In brief
In a showdown on Indonesia’s Batam island, hundreds of households that have relied on a network of reservoirs for decades are now competing with sprawling data centres for water. The protests, fueled by a three‑month drought and the rapid construction of the Nongsa Digital Park, have drawn attention to the hidden cost of AI growth – water consumption that can rival thousands of homes. While the island’s trade authority insists the crisis stems from a dry period, locals demand that tech firms build their own desalination plants and release transparent water‑use data. The debate pits a ten‑billion‑dollar investment in digital infrastructure against the basic rights of an island’s 1‑million residents.
“Water! Water!” the crowd shouted as they stormed a data‑centre compound, armed with plastic bottles and jerry cans. A hundred‑plus local residents seized the hot‑briefcase of water security on the Indonesian island of Batam, where taps have gone dry for three months while the new Nongsa Digital Park pumps water to keep servers cool.
Batam’s water supply comes from six artificial reservoirs built to collect rainwater. Even under normal weather, the reservoirs struggle to meet the demands of 1.3 million residents and the island’s growing tech sector. Scientists say a single niche data‑centre can consume up to 300,000 gallons of water daily – enough for about a thousand US households – and the projected 1,100 MW of data‑centre power by 2030 could equal the electricity of nearly a million homes.
Local authorities have denied that data‑centres are siphoning water, citing a prolonged El Nino‑driven drought, but the residents see no evidence of shared water budgets. They have called on the government to enforce that any new data‑centre project must include a dedicated desalination plant and to publish the exact water usage, a request that has so far gone unanswered.
The island’s trade agency, BP Batam, approved 10 data‑centres, with six already in the Nongsa Digital Park and more under review. Investors, drawn by cheaper labour and proximity to Singapore, have poured more than $6.7bn ever since the ban on data‑centre construction was lifted by Singapore in 2022 after new efficiency rules.
Protestors argue that their basic needs are being ignored in favour of corporate profits. “We just want our water supply restored,” a resident said. The tension underscores a broader global debate on how the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure can strain local resources and communities.
While the data‑centre operators await approval to construct a 450MW AI factory, the local community’s plea for equitable resource sharing remains unmet. The clash on Batam’s shores may be a bell‑wether for similar conflicts worldwide as tech giants continue to drill for the water that keeps their servers from overheating.
