Project Blue Toolkit for Tucson

What is Project Blue?

Project Blue is a massive multi-phase data center project for Amazon Web Services that is proposed for Tucson. The Pima County Supervisors have approved the sale of the land to the developers, but the City of Tucson still needs to approve the annexation of that land so that it can be included in Tucson Water's Service area. 

Data centers are notoriously water-intensive and energy-intensive and are not compatible with a sustainable and resilient water future for Southern Arizona. You can read more of WMG's initial analysis of the project in our July 8th blog post. Please note that information is emerging and evolving rapidly, as the proposal has been cloaked in secrecy. Some information may have changed since that blog post was written, but our position has not. 

Energy

• Draw: up to 1.3 gigawatts
  • Nearly 3x the next largest data center in Arizona
• Running at 80% capacity, it would exceed TEP's current delivery to every home, business, and industrial facility combined
• Project Blue and TEP have not yet determined what energy sources will power the full build.

Water

• PB will use drinking water for the first 2 years of operation, before eventually switching to 100% reclaimed water. Developers will build 18 mile purple pipeline to receive water.
• Full build-out of the first two sites would require 1.7 million gallons of water per day.
• Financial penalties for exceeding projected water use, but no contractual limit indicated.

Air Quality Impacts

• Unknown

How can you learn more about Project Blue? 

• WMG and No Desert Data Centers are hosting information sessions on July 24th (in-person and at capacity) and July 30th (online)
• No Desert Data Centers is active on Facebook, Instagram, and in a Signal chat. You can find links to all of these on their website or fill out their Google form to sign up for information
• For more on energy, water, and economic impacts, visit the Project Blue dashboard by local company Sky Island AI

What can you do about Project Blue? 

Right now, the most important thing you can do is contact the Mayor and your City Council members to explain your position and ask them to vote No on Project Blue. There are multiple ways to do so: 

• Call or email their offices
• Send a letter or a postcard (you can pick postcards up from WMG's Welcome Center during business hours [M-F, 9:30 - 5] starting July 25th)
• Attend one of the community info sessions on July 23rd (Mica Mountain High School) and/or July 31 (Catalina Hight School)
• Attend the Mayor & Council study session on August 6th
• Attend the Mayor & Council voting session on August 19th

Not sure what Ward you are in and who your Councilperson is? Visit the Pima County Precinct Search and enter your address to find out.

WMG Project Blue News

https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_e7f2fbd2-ed56-4c72-b481...