Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing sues for Colorado River water for California AI data center

Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM) is seeking a legal injunction against the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) after the public utility rejected its request for Colorado River water. The company plans to build what could become California's largest AI data center, a roughly $10 billion, 950,000‑square‑foot facility with a 330 MW power capacity. Cooling the data center would require about 750,000 gallons of water per day, or 287 million gallons annually – roughly 0.03 % of IID’s annual water entitlement.

IVCM intends to redirect water from 160 acres of leased farmland that it will cease irrigating, matching the data center’s water need. The project is projected to generate 1,688 construction jobs, more than 100 permanent positions, and nearly $3 billion in economic impact over 30 years in Imperial County, where unemployment peaked at 17.6 % in June. Critics argue that shifting agricultural water to a private AI facility could weaken public control of water rights and set a precedent for further transfers, potentially affecting the broader agricultural supply chain.

The county has placed a temporary moratorium on new data center projects while a commission reviews rules, amid federal efforts to draft new operating guidelines for the Colorado River amid prolonged drought and low runoff.