Gigawatt Ledger · one-page briefing
Campus profile Operating
Mesa
Google · Mesa, Arizona
The resource footprint
Modelled averageIn one day, this campus consumes about
1.6450-metre swimming pools
Filled with the volume of water consumed by the campus and its electricity supply.
The actual estimate1,080,853 US gallons consumed
Power-plant water may come from a different watershed. This is a volume comparison, not a claim that households lose this water.
At current operating capacity · Annual model spread evenly over time, not a live meter. Site estimates may differ by roughly ±40%.
Comparison sizes & sources
One pool = 50 × 25 × 2 metres = 2.5 million litres (about 660,430 US gallons). Pool depths vary; this is a defined comparison size.
One home-year = 10,791 kWh, the EIA’s 2022 average US residential electricity purchases. This excludes electricity generated at home and is a fixed US benchmark for all sites.
One car-year = 4.6 tonnes CO₂, the EPA’s typical passenger vehicle tailpipe estimate. The campus model is in CO₂e; the comparison expresses approximate climate scale, not equal mixtures of pollutants.
Monthly values are annual totals ÷ 12; daily values are annual totals ÷ 365. Actual demand varies. Comparisons cover the whole campus, including non-AI uses.
Water: see the numbers and sources
This is water used up, mainly through evaporation. Power-generation water may be used in a different watershed.
- Pressure on local water
- Extremely High — a regional measure of demand compared with available water
- Where the water comes from
- Municipal potable supply
- Cooling
- Air-cooled chillers, selected specifically for the Colorado basin
- Basis
- Fitted to a published figure of 9.70 million gallons a year (2025)
- Operator table
- Withdrew 19.4 million gallons, discharged 9.70, consumed 9.70
- Claimed vs observed
- Google 2026 Environmental Report (FY2025): withdrew 19.4 million gallons, discharged 9.7, consumed 9.7. Air-cooled on purpose for the Colorado basin.
Air: see the numbers and sources
The totals include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particles. They cover both this site and the power plants supplying it.
- Health range
- $6.41–18.4 million a year. Lower bound is EASIUR national mid-range; upper is EPA benefit-per-ton at a ~$12M VSL.
- Statistical deaths
- 1.53 a year at that VSL — a national-average conversion from tons, not a local concentration study.
- Equals
- 227,651 cars of NOx
- Where it burns
- WECC Southwest — Ariz. / N.M.
- Generation mix
- Gas 46 · Nuclear 22 · Solar 14 · Coal 12
- Diesel backup
- Diesel backup is not yet counted for this campus, so on-site air figures are a floor.
- CO₂e
- 452 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
The project, approvals and community concerns
- Who asked for it
- Google — self-build
- Who approved it
- City of Mesa development agreement with a negotiated water cap; Salt River Project supply
- What it serves
- Google Cloud us-west and Search
- IT capacity
- 180 MW current capacity / 350 MW full-build scenario
Mesa now requires new data centers to commit to air cooling or bring their own water rights. Google consumed 9.7 million gallons here in 2025 — a fraction of what an evaporative build the same size would, at the cost of a higher power bill.
Keep this guide handy
33.3062°, -111.6169°
Quote or share these estimates
Gigawatt Ledger (2026). Mesa: water and air. https://gigawatt-ledger.pages.dev/site/mesaaz/. Modelled from disclosed capacity; site-level error ±40%.
Include the estimate’s date, whether it describes current or proposed capacity, and its uncertainty. Get an embeddable card.
Gigawatt Ledger · September 2026. Water and air figures are estimated from public records and disclosed capacity. How we calculate them · Use this in your community.