<
https://ictnews.org/news/developers-eye-native-nations-tribal-communities-for-new-data-center-projects/>
"Officials in Page, Arizona, a small city near the Glen Canyon Dam, passed a
land sale agreement last fall that establishes a framework for future
construction of a data center.
The sale of the 500-acre parcel about a mile away from the Colorado River’s
Horseshoe Bend — one of the most visited natural landmarks in the Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area — to Huntley LLC for $7 million specifies that the
company intends to build a 1 gigawatt data center.
Residents have been pushing back and launched a petition earlier this year to
stop the planned data center from being built.
About 5 miles south of the city, a group of tribal leaders began to take
notice. The proposed data center borders the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo
Nation, located in the northwest corner of the Navajo Reservation.
Like most of Arizona, the community has run into challenges from severe drought
conditions this year. After learning how much water it could take to cool the
thousands of servers housed in the massive facilities, members of the tribe
grew increasingly concerned about the proposed data center.
The LeChee Chapter also passed a resolution opposing Page’s decision to sell
the land to the developers.
“Water is precious to us,” said Irene Whitekiller, president of the LeChee
Chapter. “ … Water is used for everything, like with holy water in church and
traditional ceremonies. But with a data center coming in, it’s going to take a
lot.”
Data center developments are continuing to spread throughout the country as the
demand for digital processing power grows — especially as artificial
intelligence systems become more prevalent. But in addition to concerned
residents, some federal, state and local officials are worried about how data
centers could drive up utility bills, strain water resources and hurt the
environment.
And now, tribal communities are grappling with the fact that more developers
are eyeing their land for future data center projects."
Via Muse.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
