The exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has driven the rapid global expansion of data centers, raising serious concerns about their environmental impact—particularly water use. While national and global water consumption by data centers may seem modest compared to other users, their localized impacts can be significant—especially in regions already facing water stress or drought. This commentary examines the multi‐faceted water footprint of data centers, encompassing direct cooling, electricity generation, and supply chain water demands. It highlights major gaps in transparency around how much water data centers use, which undermine effective regulation, innovation, and community planning. To ensure the sustainable growth of digital infrastructure and the preservation of water resources, comprehensive monitoring and public disclosure of water use are essential. Equally important are resilient water infrastructure planning and stronger collaboration between industry and communities.

Data centers are the backbone of the digital economy but are facing mounting scrutiny over their vast water usage, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) workloads accelerate demand. Globally, data centers consumed around 560 billion liters of water in 2023 and are projected to require as much as 1,200 billion liters by 2030. Given water scarcity, the need for sustainable alternatives to traditional water cooling systems is urgent. This article reviews the key drivers of data center water consumption, surveys state-of-the-art sustainable cooling technologies-including closed-loop liquid cooling, twophase immersion, free air cooling, and geothermal systems-and compares their water and energy efficiency, implementation costs, and operational challenges. Comparative analysis, realworld case studies, and visual data are provided to support decision-making for researchers and facility managers. A roadmap for industry and policy is then outlined to accelerate the adoption of water-sustainable cooling.