09/03/2026
Billings Gazette 1 Sept. Quantica Infrastructure's data center campus plans to use about 20,000 gallons of water per day once completed, the company stated in a press release Monday.
To get water in the relatively dry area south of Broadview, Quantica will tap thousands of feet below ground into the Madison Aquifer, rather than using the unconnected, shallower Eagle Aquifer relied upon by ranchers and others in the area.
The 20,000-gallons-per-day number topping the press release will be after the company expects to use 150,000 gallons per day during the construction of the campus. During construction water will be used for concrete, dust suppression, and to supply drinking water for a planned man camp for workers.
The numbers were informed through working with Montana Department of Environmental Quality guidelines, in addition to assistance from contractors and comparisons to other data center projects, according to Damon Obie, general counsel for Quantica Infrastructure.
To put the water usage in perspective, the press release said the 150,000 gallons per day is less than that of a 300-room medical center and half the water usage of an average irrigated golf course.
In 2008, Audubon International estimated golf courses use 312,000 gallons per day. The city of Billings uses about 22 million gallons per day on average, with it fluctuating during the summer and winter, water quality superintendent Louis Engels told the Gazette. He estimated the average city water customer uses about 180 gallons per day.
The data center will use a closed-loop system to absorb heat of computers, with the water repeatedly being cycled through the sealed system. The relatively new technology comes with the tradeoff of needing more power for far less water usage. Quantica has submitted 8,835 megawatts of interconnection requests of power generation and storage. Data centers historically have used water-intensive evaporative cooling systems, rather than the closed loop system.
Water in a closed-loop system will need to be eventually disposed of on a regular basis even as it cycles. Plans haven't been established yet for treatment and disposal, Obie told the Gazette.
The company had mentioned the possibility of the Madison Aquifer as far back as February in an interview with the Gazette. The Central Montana Regional Water Authority has also tapped into the Madison Aquifer in recent years. That piping system meant to bring clean water to small towns in central Montana connected to Roundup last year and is set for to distribute water to Lavina and Broadview early next year.
The press release mentions the possibility of making water available to surrounding communities and neighboring farmers, since there will be leftover capacity after everything is built.
"Could that be the Central Montana Regional Water Authority?" Obie said. "We think that's a conversation worth having, but it could also be neighboring farmers and ranchers that may have a need for supplemental water as well. Again, that's in the very early stages, but those are options that we definitely want to explore."
The company still needs to submit an application to the DEQ to drill the well, and anticipates doing so in the near future, Obie said. Approval from the Department of Natural Resources will also be needed. They expect to pump at max 150,000 gallons per day on a 16-hour-per-day pumping period.
The water announcement comes amid nationwide concerns about data centers guzzling water, with some evaporative cooling systems requiring millions of gallons per day. Amid a surge of local opposition including an attempted ballot initiative to regulate data centers, Quantica has repeatedly tried to form a positive community-oriented image and anticipate environmental concerns with the project.
Jess Peterson, who is contracted to help community relations for Quantica, shared the press release with several community members, writing that "Water is for fighting….not on this project though."
In the press release, Quantica CEO John Chesser said: "We have stated early on, we have four pillars for responsible development — the first pillar being Protecting Our Montana Way of Life. That includes our natural resources. We're deploying closed-loop cooling technology, investing in water sources that do not interfere with local water needs, and we are in early planning to evaluate making water available to our neighbors, and we plan to work with local counties to help make this possible."
The finalized press release shared with the Gazette came with comments unintentionally left on the Word document from Quantica's leadership. Chesser commented "this was written by nerds" on the top of the press release. And on Chesser's included quote, Obie had noted the preliminary nature of the water-sharing plan.
"I don't think we should be this specific if we haven't discussed this with each county," Obie wrote. "We'll look bad if a reporter contacts the County water/ sewer dept. for each County and each one says they've had no discussions with them about this concept. We should state that we are evaluating and "plan to engage" with the counties or something to that effect."
In the background, Quantica continues to work with NorthWestern Energy as its requests to connect to the grid are being reviewed in a years-long process.
According to documents obtained by the Gazette, on June 11 NorthWestern Energy has entered into an agreement to allow them to enter land owned by Quantica's subsidiary Big Sky Digital Infrastructure for a period of three years, with a possible extension of two years. The agreement will help make possible a planned transmission line by NorthWestern that will connect to the Broadview substation that the data center will also rely on. Power for the data center is set to be in service as early as 2029 for the 1,100-megawatt data center.
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