WaterMark / Jurisdictions / Racine County, WI (Mount Pleasant)
Racine County, WI (Mount Pleasant): Data Center Water Impact
Reference data for evaluating a data center proposal in Racine County, WI (Mount Pleasant). Every figure below is a stored value with its primary source attached. Facility-scale results are produced by the assessment tool.
Water supply
| Metric | Value | Source / basis |
|---|---|---|
| Water utility | Racine Water Utility (City of Racine) / Village of Mount Pleasant | Utility of record |
| Supply source | Lake Michigan (Great Lakes Compact diversion) | Utility of record |
| Treatment capacity | 36 MGD | Water stress: WRI Aqueduct 4.0 (Kuzma et al. 2023), Pike-Root / Root River basin HUC-8 04040002, Low category (Lake Michigan supply). Source/diversion: Wisconsin DNR City of Racine Diversion — up to 7 MGD of Lake Michigan water to Mount Pleasant under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, returned via Racine WWTP. |
| Water rate | $4.16 / 1,000 gal | Racine Water Utility (City of Racine) / Village of Mount Pleasant published rate schedule |
| Watershed stress | Low (0.8 / 5) | Water stress: WRI Aqueduct 4.0 (Kuzma et al. 2023), Pike-Root / Root River basin HUC-8 04040002, Low category (Lake Michigan supply). Source/diversion: Wisconsin DNR City of Racine Diversion — up to 7 MGD of Lake Michigan water to Mount Pleasant under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, returned via Racine WWTP. |
Watershed consumptive use
Basin: Pike-Root (Root River) (HUC-8 04040002). Figures are consumptive use, not withdrawal, because evaporative data center loss is consumptive. USGS data year 2015.
| Category | Consumptive use (MGD) | Share of basin |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 21.19 | 89.9% |
| Thermoelectric power | 0 | 0.0% |
| Industrial | 0.2 | 0.8% |
| Irrigation | 1.59 | 6.7% |
| Mining | 0.59 | 2.5% |
| Existing data centers | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | 23.6 | 100.0% |
Total is the sum of the categories listed above. Shares are each category divided by that total. Source: USGS Estimated Use of Water 2015, county-level data release (Dieter et al. 2018), Racine County, WI. Values are 2015 freshwater withdrawals (Mgal/d): PS 19.14 + DO 2.05 = residential 21.19; PT 0.0; IN 0.20; IR 1.59; MI 0.59.
Grid generation water (Scope 2)
Generating the electricity a data center consumes evaporates water at the power plant. That volume is real, it is attributable, and it is excluded from most corporate "water positive" accounting. On a thermal grid it is frequently comparable to the facility's own cooling water.
| Metric | Value | Source / basis |
|---|---|---|
| Grid region | MISO | MISO |
| Electric utility | We Energies (Wisconsin Electric) | Utility of record |
| Grid water intensity | 0.37 gal / kWh | Macknick et al. 2012 consumption factors, weighted by We Energies / MISO mix (2024: ~30% coal, ~34% gas, ~31% nuclear, ~5% renewables per We Energies EPA GHG resource mix); same 0.37 MISO basis as the St. Louis County, MN (Hermantown) entry. |
| Local peak demand | 1,000 MW | MISO |
| Modeled rate impact | 6% to 14% | See methodology |
Where this water is consumed: Microsoft "Fairwater" AI campus on the former Foxconn site in Mount Pleasant is supplied with Lake Michigan water via the Racine Water Utility under an approved Great Lakes Compact diversion (up to 7 MGD area allocation; Microsoft states the data centers' own water need will not exceed 8.4 million gallons annually, using closed-loop / non-evaporative cooling). We Energies generation serving the campus is coal/gas/nuclear thermal on MISO; that Scope 2 cooling water is withdrawn at plants outside the Root River HUC, so it does not burden the local Lake Michigan basin.
Run this county at your facility size. The assessment tool computes direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) water for a specific load, cooling system, and mitigation stack, with the same citations attached.
Open Racine County, WI (Mount Pleasant) in the assessment tool
Reducing the footprint here
A high stress reading is a design constraint, not a verdict. Closed-loop and dry or hybrid cooling, adiabatic assist, immersion, and reclaimed or non-potable sourcing each move the direct number, and siting against a cleaner grid mix moves the indirect number. The solutions catalog lists each option with its water reduction, its energy and cost tradeoff, and its source.
Regulatory and siting status
Mount Pleasant — Microsoft "Fairwater" AI campus on the former Foxconn site. Lake Michigan supply via an approved Great Lakes Compact diversion (lowest water stress in the set). Strong DC incentives (2023 sales-tax exemption); cool lake-effect climate aids free cooling. We Energies MISO mix is coal/gas/nuclear, so Scope 2 water is mid-pack.
- Hyperscale activity
- Cool climate
Sources: Water: Racine Water Utility / WI DNR diversion (Lake Michigan). Grid: MISO (We Energies). WI DC sales-tax exemption.
Comparative siting scores for this county, alongside every other county tracked, are on the US Siting Matrix.
How these numbers are derived
Assumptions, formulas, and the full source list are in the methodology. WaterMark is published by Standard Water Corp and is not affiliated with any data center developer, utility, or government agency.