Critics Slam Amazonâs 'Water Positive' Pledge as Data Centers Strain Local Resources

Amazon plans to invest in water conservation along the Maipo River , which is the primary source of water for the Santiago region, Chile .

Data centers require large amounts of water to cool their servers and power to power cloud computing services and online programs.

Amazon claims that its data centers are already among the most water-efficient in the industry, and it plans to roll out more conservation projects to mitigate its thirst.

Amazon says it is 41 percent of the way to meeting its goal of being water positive.

The tech giant has built most of its data centers with evaporative cooling systems.

The company also funds conservation and recharge projects like the one in Chile .

But its water stewardship goal doesn't include the water consumed by the power plants that supply its centers.

âIf they are able to capture some of the growing water and clean it and return to the community, thatâs better than nothing, but I think itâs not really reducing the actual consumption,â Ren said. âIt masks out a lot of real problems, because water is a really regional issue.â Correction:Â This story has been corrected to clarify that Amazonâs âwater positiveâ pledge applies only to its web services division..