A picture taken on December 6, 2016 shows Google Groningen logo for the office during the opening of the new Google data center in Eemshaven, near Groningen, Netherlands. | Photo by VINCENT JANNINK/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
With drought sucking the Western US dry, Google announced new plans to protect vital water resources. Google guzzles up water to cool its data centers, three of which are in the drought-stricken West. To offset its thirst, the company said that by 2030, it wants to replenish 120 percent of the water it consumes.
Google laid out three strategies to accomplish that goal: using water more efficiently in its operations, partnering with communities to make watersheds healthier, and offering its technologies as tools to predict and prevent water stress.
The company has faced pushback from communities near its data center in South Carolina and a...
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