On October 5, the City of Alachua Commission will consider Ordinance 26-17, imposing a temporary moratorium on data centers, large-scale data centers and large-load facilities.

Sierra Club, along with many others, strongly support the pause. But after watching recent development decisions in Alachua, we are equally concerned about what happens during the moratorium and whether the public will have a meaningful voice before the City decides what comes next.

We have been here before.

Hundreds of written objections and extensive public comment accompanied the Farmlands (read Walmart) proposal along U.S. 441. Residents raised concerns about traffic, development intensity and impacts to our sensitive aquifer recharge area, especially due to a nearby toxic plume of forever chemicals from a decommissioned landfill. Nevertheless, the Comprehensive Plan amendment passed 3–2, followed by another 3–2 vote advancing the 182-acre rezoning.

The Tara developments provide an even more sobering example. Local residents, Alachua County environmental staff and independent experts as well as many cave divers raised concerns about development near Mill Creek Sink and the karst system connected to the Floridan aquifer. A County-commissioned independent review concluded existing testing did not adequately assess sinkhole activity and potential pathways for runoff to reach the aquifer and recommended further study.

Ultimately, it was Alachua's Planning & Zoning Board - not the City Commission - that unanimously denied the Tara April special exception after hours of testimony and demands for better environmental information. Nearly 50 people spoke at that hearing, and none supported approval without additional testing.

That history matters now.

A moratorium must be more than a timeout

Ordinance 26-17 would pause numerous development applications involving data centers while directing staff to prepare proposed regulations.

Many believe that sequence needs to change.

Don't pause development simply to give staff time to write regulations. Pause development so Alachua can determine whether large-scale data centers belong here at all.

The moratorium should explicitly require independent study and public workshops before regulations are drafted.

Study water consumption, electrical demand, cooling technology, wastewater, stormwater, noise, backup generators, substations and transmission, emergency services, land-use compatibility and infrastructure costs.

Then also put that information before the public.

Show us what a 20-, 50-, 100- or 200-megawatt facility could mean here. How much water might it consume? What new electrical infrastructure would be required? Who pays for all of it? How many permanent jobs would actually result?

And most importantly, listen before making the decision.

We have the advantage of being late

Florida doesn't have to repeat mistakes made elsewhere.

Virginia became the nation's largest data-center market before confronting the cumulative consequences. Its independent legislative review found data centers driving extraordinary projected electricity growth and warned of massive generation and transmission needs - along with the possibility of stranded infrastructure costs if projected demand doesn't materialize.

In The Dalles, Oregon, Google's data centers consumed about 434 million gallons of water in 2024. That is roughly one-third of the city's total use!

These examples don't mean every data center will have those impacts. They show us why communities should understand the consequences before committing their resources.

Why Alachua?

This is the question we most want answered.

Our region depends on the Floridan aquifer. Our springs and rivers are already under stress. Electricity costs are rising and industrial land is finite.

Why should Alachua offer those resources to an industry whose future requirements are being driven largely by extraordinary projections for artificial intelligence?

Those projections may prove correct. They may also be overstated as technology changes, efficiency improves or projects are cancelled. Communities should not make decades-long land, water and infrastructure decisions based on the assumption that today's projections are guaranteed.

Florida itself has decided more information is necessary. Chapter 2026-65 addresses large electrical users and directs an independent statewide study of data centers' economic, energy, water, land-use and other impacts.

Alachua should be just as cautious.

When the moratorium ends

The answer should not automatically be an ordinance allowing large data centers.

Ask instead: What does this industry give Alachua compared with what it asks us to provide?

We must compare the promise of tax revenue and permanent jobs to the demands on our water, electricity, infrastructure, industrial land, environmental impacts and financial risk.

If large-scale data centers don't make sense here, the City should examine its authority to prohibit or sharply limit them.

And this time, public participation cannot be an afterthought.

We've watched residents spend hours at City Hall, submit evidence and raise serious concerns about projects affecting the resource beneath all of us: our aquifer.

A public hearing after the regulations are written is not enough.

Use this moratorium differently.

Pause. Study. Educate. Hold public workshops. Listen. Then decide.

Before Alachua asks how to accommodate large-scale data centers, we want our City to answer a much simpler question:

Why should we accommodate them at all?

Join the Conversation

These questions about data centers are part of a much bigger conversation about the future of our water.

To commemorate Florida Climate Week, we invite you to join us for Our Water | Our Future | Our Voice, a community Water Summit on October 10 from 2 - 5 p.m. at the Alachua Lions Club, 15125 NW 142 Terrace, Alachua, FL 32615. We'll bring together water scientists, planners, environmental experts and advocates to talk about what is happening to our aquifer, springs and wetlands and the growing pressures from drought, development, pollution and water-intensive industries.

Most importantly, this is a chance for you to ask questions and better understand who makes the decisions affecting our water and how the public can have a stronger voice in those decisions.

If we're going to make choices today that shape Alachua's water future for decades, we should all have a seat at the table. Reserve your seat here: https://bit.ly/OurWaterOurFutureOurVoice