Statement of Potomac Riverkeeper Network President Betsy Nicholas

The Potomac River is not just another waterway. It is the primary drinking water source for more than 6 million people across our region. There is no backup system. No alternative supply waiting in reserve. Protecting this river is not optional—it is essential.

Right now, that responsibility is being tested in an unprecedented way.

Data centers are expanding rapidly across the country, and the Potomac River basin has become one of their primary hubs. That reality is not going to change. What must change is how these facilities are planned, approved, and managed. In a region where millions rely on a single river for drinking water, development must be balanced, transparent, and accountable—and it must meet standards that fully protect water quality and water supply.

The Potomac River basin has become the global epicenter of data center development, with more than 1,000 facilities built, approved, or planned, and roughly 200 million square feet of industrial footprint in the watershed. The vast majority of these facilities are located upstream of drinking water intakes, placing growing and largely unquantified pressure on both water availability and water quality for the communities who depend on this river every day.

These are not abstract risks. They are direct threats to drinking water.

Data centers can withdraw enormous volumes of water—sometimes up to a million gallons per day for a single facility. They rely on complex cooling systems that use chemicals, generate wastewater, and create pathways for pollution through discharge, runoff, and system failures. They store large volumes of diesel fuel and contain materials—including heavy metals and PFAS—that, if released, can contaminate groundwater and surface waters for decades.

And critically, where these risks are even evaluated, it is without full public transparency and on an individual basis without regard for the cumulative impacts to the Potomac River. That is not a responsible way to manage a drinking water supply.

Potomac Riverkeeper Network believes that any data center development in the watershed must meet clear, enforceable standards that put drinking water protection first:

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Protecting Water Quantity

• Full public disclosure of water withdrawals and sources
• Demonstration that cumulative withdrawals will not impact drinking water supplies or aquifers
• Use of the lowest-water technologies available, with enforceable limits during drought conditions

Protecting Water Quality

• No discharge of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater
• Strict controls on cooling chemicals, PFAS, and other hazardous substances
• Secondary containment and monitoring for all fuel and chemical storage
• Modern stormwater systems designed for today’s extreme rainfall conditions

Full Transparency

• No secrecy around water use, discharges, or environmental risks
• Public access to discharge monitoring data for nearby waterways
• Clear disclosure of all environmental impacts before approvals are granted

Cumulative Impact Analysis

• Independent, basin-wide assessment of impacts to water supply, water quality, and infrastructure
• Coordination across jurisdictions to ensure the river is protected as a whole system—not project by project

Responsible Siting

• No development in priority drinking water source areas or critical recharge zones
• Protection of wetlands, tributaries, and sensitive ecosystems that filter and sustain the river
• Avoidance of contaminated sites without rigorous, enforceable safeguards

Public Accountability and Benefit

• Developers—not the public—must bear the cost of infrastructure and water treatment upgrades
• Full accounting of long-term public costs and risks

Long-Term Pollution Prevention

• Safe, enforceable plans for e-waste disposal and toxic materials
• Lifecycle accountability for pollution risks as facilities age

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How PRKN Will Engage

Protecting drinking water at this scale requires a strategic, watershed-wide approach.

Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) will focus our efforts where we can have the greatest impact: advancing strong, enforceable protections at the state and regional level that govern water use, water quality, and transparency for all data center development. We will work with policymakers to ensure that clear standards, cumulative impact assessments, and public disclosure requirements are in place across the basin—not just applied project by project.

At the same time, we will equip communities with the tools and information they need to understand and evaluate the risks of data center proposals in their own backyards. This includes guidance on water impacts, key questions to ask, and how to identify potential threats to local drinking water supplies. Where appropriate, we will support community efforts by providing technical insight, data, and advocacy resources.

Given the scale of development across the watershed, PRKN will not engage in every individual facility siting dispute. Instead, we are prioritizing systemic solutions and broad protections that safeguard the entire river and all communities who depend on it. Our goal is to ensure that no community is left to navigate these risks alone—while also driving the larger policy changes needed to protect the Potomac at its source.

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The bottom line is this:

If a project puts drinking water at risk, it should not move forward.
If its impacts are unknown, it is not ready for approval.

This moment demands leadership and foresight. The decisions being made today will determine whether the Potomac continues to serve as a safe, reliable drinking water source for generations to come—or whether we pass along avoidable risks and costs to the communities who depend on it.

The Potomac River has come too far in its recovery to be put at risk by incomplete planning and insufficient safeguards. We owe it—and the millions of people who rely on it—better.