Oklahoma's Suitcase Farmers Return in Form of Data Centers
Like their predecessors during the Dust Bowl era, Oklahoma's policymakers are being courted by 'Suitcase Farmers', finance types from the coasts looking to make a quick buck.
The situation is eerily reminiscent of the past. After World War I, the US government incentivized wheat production with the Wheat Price Guarantee Act, which guaranteed a minimum sales price for wheat.
This led to an influx of Suitcase Farmers who ripped up the land and sowed wheat in search of quick profits, removing deep-rooted prairie plants that could withstand drought. The result was devastating, the Dust Bowl.
Today's data centers are similarly drawing water at alarming rates. Google's data center near Tulsa uses over 3 million gallons per day for cooling equipment, with much of it evaporating off. Indirect water demand worsens this to more than 5 million gallons per day.
The proposed Yukon data center would use nearly 10 million gallons of water per day in direct and indirect demand, a staggering 10% of the OKC metro area's typical usage.