Spot birds not golf

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17th July 2026

Suggestion for hyperscalers feeling pressure over data center water use:

Buy up a few exclusive country clubs, convert the golf courses into public parks, pay for guides and binoculars to get the previous members into birdwatching - help them embrace a more sustainable hobby!

Google used 10.9 billion gallons in 2025, so about 30 million gallons per day.

The Coachella Valley has 120 golf courses each using ~800 acre-feet per year, which is ~750,000 gallons per day.

So Google buying up 40 of those courses (1/3) should do the trick.

Posted 17th July 2026 at 2:58 am

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This is a note by Simon Willison, posted on 17th July 2026.

ai<br>2,125

ai-energy-usage<br>18

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