Data centers and the environment: water, land and local acceptance

Farmland, the first point of friction

AI campuses cover dozens of hectares. For lack of large enough brownfield sites, some projects are built on farmland. In Fouju, in Seine-et-Marne, the AI campus covers around 90 hectares of cultivated land; its developer says it could not find a suitable brownfield site. In the Indre, Google's project covers close to 195 hectares. Farmers' unions and associations condemn the loss of some of the most fertile land in the country.

Classification as a project of major national interest also allows exemptions from certain rules, which opponents criticise as undermining France's net zero land take objective (see Public policy: what the State and the regions are doing to attract data centers).

Water, a growing concern

Some data centers use water to remove heat, notably through cooling towers. After the droughts of recent summers, the issue has become sensitive. In Marseille, for example, some data centers are cooled with water that is then discharged into the Mediterranean at a higher temperature.

More and more projects highlight closed-loop or dry cooling systems that draw no drinking water. This is the case of the Fouju AI campus, whose developer announces water-free cooling. Opponents then point to other risks, such as refrigerant leaks.

Heat, electricity, jobs: the debate widens

Criticism also covers:

• heat released into the air instead of being reused (see Waste heat: how data centers are becoming district heating plants);
• electricity: the fear that data centers will capture grid capacity needed for other industrial projects or for the electrification of transport;
• local benefits: a data center employs few people in operation relative to its size. In Fouju, the developers announce 300 to 500 direct jobs;
• sovereignty: some opponents question the value of projects funded by non-European money.

Opposition gets organised

For the Fouju AI campus, authorised by the prefecture at the end of July 2026, a group of associations filed six challenges before the Paris administrative court of appeal, and a challenge to the building permit was announced. In the Drôme, faced with local reservations, a developer committed in October 2026 to limiting its site to 40 MW, not using drinking water and funding €10 million of local projects. In the Indre, Google's project also met strong opposition.

The subject has entered national politics: on 6 October 2026, a draft resolution asked the National Assembly for a moratorium on data centers backed by non-European players and for a democratic debate.

How to build acceptance

The projects that progress best have several things in common:

1. A carefully chosen site: brownfield, industrial or port area, close to a heat network.
2. A restrained design: cooling without drinking water, heat recovery planned from the outset, landscape integration.
3. Early consultation, before the project is fixed, with quantified commitments.
4. Tangible local benefits: heat for public facilities, jobs and training, local taxes.
5. Transparency on energy, water and employment, measured over time.

For engineering teams, these requirements are not just a matter of communication: they translate into technical choices, and are decided at the design stage.