BY TOBY CRAIG The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) has granted Amazon Data Services (ADS) a five-year permit authorizing the discharge of water from its Lake Anna Tech Campus, the data center located on Kentucky Springs and Haley Drive, into Sedges Creek. The permit authorizes up to 0.28 million gallons per day (MGD) of noncontact cooling water into Sedges Creek beginning August 1st, 2026.
Key Facts
Facility: Lake Anna Tech Campus, Kentucky Springs Road and Haley Drive
Discharge Type: Noncontact cooling water into Sedges Creek
Limits: Daily maximum temperature <32°C, pH 6.0-9.0, total residual chlorine <0.008 mg/L
Duration: August 1st, 2026 – July 31st, 2031
Monitoring: Quarterly toxicity tests for the first year, annually for the remainder of the permit; daily sampling of temperature, pH and total residual chlorine (TRC), and monthly sampling of metals including zinc, cadmium, and copper.
The volume and concentration of server equipment within data centers generates large amounts of heat, requiring them to be cooled to prevent overheating that damages equipment and hinders efficiency. Amazon has clarified in public statements that it will primarily utilize air-cooling to cool the servers at the Lake Anna Tech Campus, only water-based cooling during the hottest periods of the year, which it estimates to be 4% of annual operations. During water-cooling, evaporation of the water causes a build-up of naturally occurring minerals like salt and silica in the system. In order to prevent damage to the various components of the cooling system, the water must periodically be discharged to purge the mineral build up. VDEQ’s permitting process is designed to ensure this discharge is done safely and responsibly.
This permit is the latest development in a series of decisions related to data centers in Louisa County, which has become a hot button issue among some area residents. Concerns range from the sound emitted by these facilities to questions of what happens after the data center is no longer in service, but water-related issues are one of the chief concerns residents express. The neighbors of the Lake Anna Tech Campus and other data centers in the county are worried about excessive water use that will deplete the water table, discharge of unsafe water, and water hot enough to adversely affect fish and wildlife in the lake. The stipulations in the VDEQ permit aim to address these concerns.
The permit allows Amazon to discharge .28 million gallons of water a day (MGD) (280,000 gallons). Among the several revisions made based on public comment, was Section E 1 that requires within 90 days of the permit being issued Amazon Data Services identify and submit a map and table of all residential wells within a 1-mile radius of the facility, establish a formal complaint submission for property owners within that radius, and provide VDEQ with financial assurances proving the data company can cover $25,000 per residential well and an additional $500,000 to remediate any impact current residential wells impacts.
The stipulations in the permit approval dictate that the temperature of the discharged water must not have a daily maximum of more than 32°C or 89.6°F. According to Dominion Energy’s website, the temperature of the water discharged from their North Anna Nuclear Power station at their latest recorded date of July 16th, 2026 was 39.5°C or 103.1° Fahrenheit. That water is discharged into the WHTF (Waste Heat Treatment Facility; known as “the warm/private side”), the same area where Amazon Data Services will be discharging their cooling water.
These safeguards are set up to allow Amazon to effectively operate their tech campus while protecting the safety of the lake, the wildlife in it, and the residents around it.
During the public comment period required by the VDEQ, many concerned citizens detailed their reasoning for alarm about this, then-proposed permit. VDEQ put out a detailed summary of comments and the department’s reasoning for proceeding using existing regulations and practices and site-specific regulations to address residents’ concerns. That document is linked in the “Looking Forward” section for you to read if you’d like.
Christopher C. McCotter, the Supervisor for the Cuckoo District, where the Lake Anna Tech Campus resides, weighed in on VDEQ’s approval of this permit application stating, “I will be monitoring this carefully as my constituents expressed insightful and predictable concerns. I’m not an advocate of any more discharges into Lake Anna, however this one is a bit more nuanced since it is into the WHTF-the private property of Dominion Energy. I don’t think they would agree to it unless it was carefully vetted. I also think the staff at VDEQ was very thorough in their review of the application, especially with the ground water monitoring requirement. Overall, I am satisfied the permit application process was adhered to and that the discharge permit should allow the DEQ to hold the permittee accountable. I am hopeful we never have to hear about any violations, and if we do, I would support strict enforcement and maximum consequences.”
Looking Forward
The full permit can be viewed on VDEQ’s site and Virginia Town Hall has a document summarizing the main concerns of the public and VDEQ’s responses to those concerns. While data centers have sparked controversy in Louisa, it has been refreshing to see more of our community members engaging in the civic processes and making their voices heard.
