Creates a public education program concerning water use reduction; expands the water conservation manual and requires smart controllers for automatic…

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Siela Bynoe says this is needed

As the climate continues to head down a more and more unpredictable path, and the global population continues to grow at increasing rates, it is vital that we ensure that each and every community has long term and sustainable access to the groundwater supply which they depend on for day-to-day life. This includes the continued availability of safe drinking water. However, the needs of each community and the conditions of their present ground water supply is not always clear. This lack of information and the subsequent absence of finely developed management practices for such water supply, puts New York communities at risk for potential shortages in the availability of safe water supplies, especially with the growing number of datacenters consuming vast amounts of water during their operations. Additionally, irrigation systems which are not utilizing smart controllers for their operation continue to result in unnecessary waste in water usage, directly putting these communities at risk, while also having the potential to impact the long- term access to these water supplies which New York Farmers desperately rely on to ensure crop production and sustain their livestock. According to an article published by the World Resources Institute, in February of this year, New York State houses the 8th most number of data centers out of all the states within the country, with 133 data centers. The article goes on to state that even mid-sized facilities can use up to 300,000 gallons of water per day, with large facilities using as much as 5 million gallons per day. Nationwide, data centers related to AI could collectively require up to 32 billion gallons of water on an annu- al basis, which the article states is enough water to support roughly 360,000 households' indoor water use. The information gathered and the subsequent management practices devel- oped under this bill will play a vital role in ensuring that as the need for data centers continues to rise, communities within New York State do not lose their access to safe, readily accessible, drinking water.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.