Sources & Citations

The 49 Billion Gallon Mirage

4 primary sources 4 categories We publish the receipts

State water authorities

Texas Water Dev. Board

Texas Water Development Board statewide demand projections used as the bottoms-up validation anchor for the verified water model.

Texas Water Development Board — State Water Plan View source

Federal research

LBNL

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report — the canonical federal study on data center energy and water intensity.

LBNL — 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al.) View source

Independent research

HARC

Houston Advanced Research Center — independent research on Texas water use, climate, and infrastructure that contextualizes the verified water model.

Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) View source

Municipal benchmarks

NYC DEP

New York City municipal water consumption benchmarks used as a population-scale comparison anchor in the verified water model.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection — water consumption statistics View source

These are the primary sources behind our research. Have a better one, or spot an error? Tell us — we’ll correct it.