HB 76 — Data Center Water Policy Amendments
Here the number is yours, and an incomplete one is charged by the day.
Takes effect
1 January 2027
New large data centres already report to the Division of Water Rights on and after 1 July 2026. The consultation duty begins 1 January 2027.
Who reports
The data centre operator.
Civil penalties up to $10,000 per day for an incomplete report, after notice and an opportunity to cure.
Claims register
Every figure on this page is recorded with its source in our public register, under C-021.
What it actually requires
Read narrowly. Where the statute is narrower than the coverage suggests, the narrow reading is the one that governs.
- Annual water-use reports are required from data centres operating in the state.
- New large data centres report to the Division of Water Rights on and after 1 July 2026.
- From 1 January 2027, the operator of a large data centre must communicate with the relevant water providers and supply reporting information before construction activity begins, in a window measured in months rather than weeks.
- The framing is transparency rather than a cap. Nothing here limits how much water a facility may use.
What it does not measure
This is the part that decides whether the published number helps you or harms you.
- The penalty attaches to an incomplete report, not to a large number. Being a heavy user is legal; being unable to substantiate the figure is expensive.
- A pre-construction consultation with a water provider is a conversation you can only have once, and you have it before the meters exist.
- An annual self-reported figure invites the same question every self-reported figure invites: who checked it.
What we would do about it
Meter both sides of the boundary, continuously, on the lines that matter. Close the balance every fifteen minutes: withdrawn, returned, reused, consumed, with the unmeasured paths shown as unmeasured rather than folded into an estimate. Sign each window and chain it, so the figure a council reads is the figure the operator reads and either can verify it independently.
It does not replace the filing. It gives you something to put beside it. Request a water assessment →
Questions people ask about HB 76 — Data Center Water Policy Amendments
Short answers, because most of what circulates about these rules is wrong in the same two ways: who reports, and what gets counted.
Does Utah require data centres to report water use?
Yes. Utah HB 76, the Data Center Water Policy Amendments, requires annual water-use reports from data centres operating in the state. New large data centres report to the Division of Water Rights on and after 1 July 2026.
What is the penalty under Utah HB 76?
Civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day for an incomplete report, imposed after notice and an opportunity to cure. The penalty attaches to failing to report properly, not to using a large volume of water.
When does Utah HB 76 take effect?
New large data centres began reporting to the Division of Water Rights on and after 1 July 2026. From 1 January 2027, a large data centre operator must also consult the relevant water providers before construction activity begins.
Do new data centres in Utah have to talk to water providers before building?
Yes. From 1 January 2027 the operator of a large data centre must communicate with the relevant water providers and supply reporting information ahead of construction, in a window measured in months rather than weeks.
Does Utah HB 76 limit how much water a data centre can use?
No. The legislation is framed around transparency rather than restriction. Nothing in it caps consumption; the obligation is to report, and the financial exposure is for reporting incompletely.
Sources
We publish these because a page about a statute that cannot be checked is worth exactly as much as a water figure that cannot be checked.
This is a plain-language summary written by a company that sells water measurement, not legal advice. Read the instrument, and take counsel on how it applies to your facility.