Google quadruples water replenishment volume

Global tech giant Google is making huge strides towards its water replenishment targets as set out in its Sustainability targets. It reported that it replenished 4.5 billion gallons in 2024, compared to 1 billion gallons in 2023, with more watersheds and projects being implemented.

World Water Day update

Google is one of the many big tech companies now implementing water stewardship as part of their wider sustainability targets.

The company provided an update for World Water Day against its target of replenishing 120 per cent of the freshwater it consumes by 2030. In 2024, the company supported 112 water stewardship projects across 68 watersheds spread around the world. This compares to 74 projects across 46 watersheds in 2023, and just 38 projects in 2022.

Google predicts that the replenishment capacity for the 112 projects, once fully implemented will increase from 4.5 billion gallons to 8 billion gallons.

With agriculture accounting for approximately 70 per cent of global water usage, many of Google’s projects operate in the critical nexus of agriculture and water security in watersheds that supply the company’s data centres and offices.

An update on all 112 water stewardship projects

Google provided an update on all 112 projects whether complete or still in progress. The projects are located around the world in watersheds where data centres are located, with Africa the only continent not represented.

Google highlighted four projects in particular that demonstrate water stewardship projects that focus on irrigation efficiency, that will reduce the need for extraction:

Supporting farmers in Chile’s Maipo Basin

Located in semi-arid central Chile, the Maipo River’s headwaters begin high in the Andes Mountains before passing through Santiago on the way to the Pacific Ocean. The area has suffered from a multi-year drought.

Agriculture is the primary use of water in the Maipo River basin, accounting for approximately 75 per cent of total demand. Google has partnered with Agua Segura and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to support the rehabilitation of a storage reservoir and lining of an irrigation canal. This water infrastructure is critical to the smallholder farmers in the basin who rely on the availability of the water for their livelihoods.

Demonstrating benefits of innovative irrigation in California’s dairy industry

California’s dairy industry contributes 21 per cent of the nation’s milk supply. The dairy industry’s impacts on water come primarily through traditional flood irrigation with nutrient-rich manure for cow forage crops.

Google has partnered with Sustainable Conservation is demonstrating the benefits of a manure drip irrigation system that delivers blended freshwater and nutrients to crop root zones. Dairies are able to use their manure’s nutrients to grow food for their cow herds, save water, and protect local groundwater that communities rely on for drinking.

Piloting irrigation efficiency for rice cultivation in Taiwan

Google has partnered with N-Drip, the gravity powered micro-irrigation provider, to address water scarcity issues faced by farmers in Taiwan. This has prevented many from planting rice crops which affects food security.

The partnership is supporting a pilot project in Changhua County, which is installing precision gravity-powered drip irrigation on rice fields. These irrigation upgrades will replace traditional methods of flood irrigation, which will reduce the amount of water needed by the farmers, while also reducing labour requirements. The pilot will help validate the water savings potential of similar projects with the aim of finding ways to scale these solutions in the future.

Using AI to improve irrigation practices for potato farmers in France

Improving irrigation efficiency is also central to a project in France. The semi-arid conditions are susceptible to the effects of climate change.

To help address this challenge, Google is supporting xFarm Technologies in deploying AI-powered irrigation module on potato farms in the Seine River basin. The technology is expected to enable farmers to irrigate only when, where, and by how much they actually need, avoiding overuse. The aim is to increase water use efficiency while still producing quality potato crops.

A wide variety of water stewardship projects

Elsewhere, Google is partnering with local stakeholders in a wide variety of stewardship projects, from stormwater management in Dublin, Ireland, to wetland and nature reserve restoration in Belgium; from rainwater harvesting in the Netherlands to urban pollution treatment via constructed wetlands in London; from water access, sanitation, and hygiene services in Hyderabad, India, to the construction of percolation wells to support aquifer recharge in Bengaluru, also in India.