The New Dark Age

Wednesday, 16 April 2025 — Foxglove

An influential committee of MPs has launched an inquiry into the long-term future of the UK’s water supply. This could be an opportunity for MPs to demand answers about the giant “hyperscale” data centres which Big Tech companies want to build across the country – Foxglove needs your help to get those MPs’ attention.

We’ve sent the committee some detailed evidence. We set out how unchecked water use by data centres risks leaving communities, farms, local businesses, and homes short on water. But alongside reminding the committee of the risks, we need to remind them that this is an issue the public care about.

Please can you help, by adding your name to an open letter asking the committee to investigate data centres as part of this inquiry into our water? We’ll deliver the letter alongside our detailed evidence. The more signatures, the more it will help persuade MPs that this is an issue the public care about.

The Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs committee says its inquiry aims to “scrutinise the breadth of issues confronting the water sector”, including “weak resilience of water supply systems and future water security”. Data centres should come under this – a potential massive spike in water demand from data centres has huge implications for UK water security.

But we know that there are plenty of other important issues with water in the UK that will be competing for the committee’s attention. And Big Tech is keen to play down the risks to water supply from their data centres, with optimistic, unsubstantiated claims about how much greener data centres will be in the future. So there’s a risk the committee could miss its chance to scrutinise what’s really going on.

You signing the open letter will help with that. Parliamentary committees don’t hear from large numbers of members of the public that often. So an open letter with thousands of signatures – particularly alongside Foxglove’s more detailed submission – should really get noticed.

It’ll only take you a minute to add your name – please click here to sign.

Thank you,

Martha

PS: The open letter, and Foxglove’s detailed evidence, both suggest questions the committee needs to get answers to, including:

• How much water do existing data centres really use – and how much will be consumed by the gigantic hyperscale data centres being planned?
• How is the government going to keep track of water use from data centres in the future?
• How is the government going to protect our water for homes, farms, business and nature as demand from data centres increases?

The more people who sign it, the stronger the message to the committee that these are questions that need answering. Please add your name here:

https://www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/open-letter-to-environment-food-and-rural-affairs-committee-please-investigate-water-use-from-data-centres/