Google announced a new set of water stewardship commitments, including a goal to become water positive across its data center operations by 2030 by replenishing more water than it consumes.

The new commitments also include investments in water infrastructure, watershed protection, alternative water sources, and transparency measures. As part of the program, Google committed $17 million to support new water stewardship projects across seven U.S. states.

In a post outlining the new commitments, Google Global Infrastructure Vice President Bikash Koley and Head of Infrastructure Strategy & Sustainability Ben Townsend said:

“Today, we are announcing several water stewardship commitments as a promise to responsibly manage vital water resources where we build and operate data centers. Our goal is to minimize our local impacts so that our growth does not come at the expense of the communities we call home.”

The company outlined five commitments under the initiative, including replenishing more water than it consumes by 2030, increasing investments in local water infrastructure projects, protecting at-risk watersheds with air-cooling or recycled water, identifying alternatives to freshwater sources to power its data centers, and increasing transparency through annual disclosure of data center water consumption.

According to the company, it currently has 165 water stewardship projects across 97 watersheds Upon completion, the projects are expected to replenish more than 19 billion gallons of water annually by 2030, double the company’ 2024 consumption.

As part of Google’s water replenishment goals, the company said that it is evaluating more than 700 projects submitted through its recent Water Replenishment Projects Request for Information (RFI). The projects under consideration include engineered solutions to improve water efficiency, supply or quality; farm-level practices to reduce agricultural water demand and improve soil health; and nature-based solutions aimed at improving the hydrologic cycle.

Koley and Townsend said:

“Water is an essential natural resource that communities work hard to conserve. Through our water stewardship commitments, we will continue to be responsible and transparent in our water use — protecting the long-term health of the watersheds in communities we call home.”