Arizona: Desert water sets up a bipartisan coalition against data centers, where TSMC was welcomed with open arms

In Tucson, the Project Blue project brought together opponents from all sides. The city blocked the annexation of the land and the county frozen the new projects for 120 days, but the site continues.

A long investigation by The Verge looks at a paradox in Arizona. The TSMC foundries in Phoenix, which consume about 4.75 million gallons of municipal water a day, have hardly met with any opposition. On the other hand, the new giant data centre projects, from Phoenix to Tucson, are creating a broad and unexpected citizen mobilization that brings together people of opposite political sensitivities.

Project Blue, symbol of the sling

The emblematic case is Project Blue, a 600-megawatt data center built by Beale Infrastructure on 290 acres near Tucson, whose final customer would be Amazon Web Services. After heated public meetings in 2025, the city council unanimously refused to annex the land, and then adopted strict rules for large water users. The project continued, however, and the State authorized two wells capable of pumping up to 31 million gallons of groundwater per year during construction. In September, Pima County declared a 120-day moratorium on new projects.

The article notes that TSMC consumes more water in nine days than Project Blue would use in one year. But the flea industry has created thousands of jobs and attracted 55 suppliers, while data centers promise few, as AI bosses themselves announce job losses. For opponents, the question is no longer just the amount of water, but what the region receives in return.