Spot birds not golf
Simon Willison Simon Willison
An article humorously suggests that hyperscalers like Google could offset their data center water consumption by purchasing golf courses and converting them to public parks, noting that Google used 10.9 billion gallons in 2025 while the Coachella Valley's 120 golf courses collectively use 750,000 gallons daily. The proposal calculates that acquiring approximately 40 of the region's golf courses could theoretically match Google's annual water usage. The suggestion is trivial satire with no serious policy implications or concrete action.
Why it matters
Suggestion for hyperscalers feeling pressure over data center water use: Buy up a few exclusive country clubs, convert the golf courses into public parks, pay for guides and binoculars to get the previous members into birdwatching - help them embrace a more sustainable hobby! Google used 10.9 billion gallons in 2025, so about 30 million gallons per day. The Coachella Valley has 120 golf courses each using ~800 acre-feet per year, which is ~750,000 gallons per day. So Google buying up 40 of those courses (1/3) should do the trick. Tags: ai-energy-usage, ai
