Amazon will invest $20 million in water conservation projects along the Colorado River, according to a report published today by The Verge. The initiative addresses a critical water supply serving 40 million people across the Western United States as tech companies face growing criticism over data center water consumption. The company aims to become water positive — putting back more water than it consumes — before 2030.
Amazon announced the creation of a Colorado River Basin Collaborative intended to raise $100 million over two years for conservation work, with the company's $20 million forming the initial contribution. The collaborative seeks to build "one of the biggest corporate water conservation efforts for a single U.S. watershed," the report states. In Orange County, California, Amazon committed $2.2 million across three years to identify and repair leaks, an effort projected to save 189 million gallons annually. The Colorado River, stretching 1,400 miles, has endured what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation calls "unprecedented" drought over 26 years, worsened by decades of overuse and human-caused climate change. Other corporations can contract with conservation projects independently through the collaborative, with the United Nations-backed Water Resilience Coalition reviewing projects.
Amazon recently disclosed that its data centers consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water globally in 2025, covering facilities it owns, leases, or shares. Data centers the company owns and operates directly cut water consumption by 2 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, according to the report. The company reports using 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour of electricity, which it claims is roughly seven times more efficient than the industry average. Since 2021, Amazon says it has achieved a 52 percent improvement in water efficiency. However, the company's annual sustainability report provides water use per unit of power since 2021 but omits total water use over that period. The report notes that Amazon is 75 percent toward its water positive goal, returning 3 gallons for every 4 gallons used last year. AI technology was estimated to consume between 312.5 billion and 764.6 billion liters of water in 2025, roughly matching global bottled water consumption.
The disclosure leaves gaps that sustainability experts warn against. Efficiency measurements alone can mislead because more efficient technology often leads to increased overall consumption as usage expands, the report explains, citing an economic concept called Jevons paradox. Tracking total water use and location-specific demand during peak periods when supply is tightest remains crucial, according to sustainability advocates quoted in the report. Amazon's data center figures exclude water consumption from electricity generation, considered "secondary" use. A Guardian investigation cited in the report alleges that Amazon executives chose not to account for water needed to generate electricity due to "reputational risk" concerns, addressing only "primary" water use at facilities when measuring progress toward sustainability goals. Power plants require water for cooling equipment and turning turbines with steam, and Amazon used 10.5 billion gallons in 2021 from electricity generation, comparable to consumption by 95,000 U.S. households, the Guardian report found based on leaked internal documents. While data centers use water for cooling systems, most of their water footprint stems from this secondary use. By comparison, Microsoft discloses total data center water use since 2020, while Google shares water use for global operations since 2021 with location breakdowns.
Kara Hurst, Amazon's chief sustainability officer, compared the Colorado River initiative to the company's Climate Pledge, stating that tackling problems together accelerates progress and that "water and climate are deeply connected," the report notes. Yet Amazon's carbon footprint grew 16 percent in 2025, mirroring a trend across the tech industry as companies rush to advance AI capabilities. Tech companies have faced waves of resistance against new AI data centers, with Arizona residents fearing data centers could worsen conditions as Colorado River water cuts are expected to raise utility rates. All three tech giants — Amazon, Microsoft, and Google — have abandoned data center projects after community opposition. The company's sprawling warehouse network, larger than any other state's in California where it serves as the first stop for most U.S. imports from Asia, isn't reflected in data center disclosures. Corporate water strategies will need to balance operational transparency with growing public demand for accountability in regions where every gallon counts. The tension between efficiency gains and absolute resource consumption will likely define how communities evaluate tech expansion in water-stressed areas.