Woman testifies that a data center has destroyed her local water supply

During a public hearing on February 17, 2026, the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology, and Tourism heard emotional testimony from a Beaver Dam woman about how a local data center has severely impacted her property. She described living on a horse farm where a natural stream has been compromised by the industrial activity, raising serious concerns about the destruction of local water supplies and the contamination of the surrounding land. This testimony was part of a larger debate over Senate Bill 843 and Assembly Bill 840, which were introduced to prevent these massive facilities from shifting their infrastructure costs onto regular residents. If passed, the legislation would require data centers to use closed-loop cooling systems to recycle water and mandate annual reporting of their total water usage to the Department of Natural Resources. The proposed rules also aim to protect the environment by requiring companies to post a reclamation bond, which ensures they have the funds to restore the land if a project is abandoned or finished. While these bills have seen bipartisan support in the Assembly, some community advocates and environmental groups like Clean Wisconsin and the River Alliance of Wisconsin argue that the state needs even stronger transparency and a pause on construction until the full impact of these energy-hungry facilities is understood.