MN Daily reports on how university professors are supporting the communities by researching large-scale data center facilities’ community impacts. The article starts with a basic introduction to data centers and goes into explanation of how the university professors are (or could be) using their resources to help the community….

“There is a need for education and capacity building so that communities can effectively engage in this technically complicated space,” Chan said.

To fill this gap, University of Minnesota researchers are deploying their expertise.

There may be a tool to help provide third party data on water use…

Hydrology professor John Nieber and Geosyntec engineer Nigel Pickering are using data centers as a case study for a state-funded project assessing the cumulative impacts of small and hyperscale facilities on local water systems.

While 20 years of state water records are available, the challenge lies in modeling the physical impact. The researchers are using LiDAR and GIS, which are mapping technologies, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources data to map these subterranean effects.

The missing piece is transparent data from the tech companies on their exact internal water use, Pickering said, but the system could be built to ingest that data as soon as it becomes available.

“Collecting the spatial information [isn’t] going to be a big challenge,” Nieber said. “The challenge is accurately accounting for the specific behavior of individual data center designs.”

Their tool will model how data centers consume and redistribute water, transforming unknown environmental risks into quantifiable metrics so communities can make informed choices.

Professors are working on a toolkit for local policymakers…

[Humphrey School assistant professor Elise] Harrington and University law professor James Coleman are analyzing data center development around the country to create a decision-making toolkit for local leaders.

“Our role is not to advocate that local governments should be for or against data centers, but that they need the best information to make the right decision in close collaboration and coordination with their own residents and their own community members,” Harrington said.

Designed as a customizable menu of options, the toolkit overlays a data-center lens onto existing municipal frameworks like land use, zoning and moratoria. However, because cities lack authority over major utilities, asking the right questions is vital. Water metrics are intuitive for cities operating local water utilities, Harrington noted, but navigating the electricity sector remains a significant blind spot.