Lawsuit Tests Water Strategy Behind California’s Lithium Valley

Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM) is suing the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) after the utility denied the company’s request for about 260 million gallons of Colorado River water per year, or roughly 750,000 gallons per day, to cool a planned 330 MW AI data center in Imperial County. The case tests whether water historically used for agriculture can be redirected to industrial projects envisioned in the county’s emerging Lithium Valley plan.

The developer says it has leased 160 acres of farmland that historically consumed about the same amount of water and plans to retire that land from production, arguing the conserved water should instead supply the proposed 950,000-square-foot campus.