The $10 Billion Project Your Community Already Approved.
Here's what's actually happening — and what it means for you.
950,000 sq ft of servers running 24/7 — the kind that power Google, Netflix, AI assistants, and cloud storage. Every app on your phone lives somewhere physical. This is it.
A private 330 MW substation — the IVDC brings its own electricity. It doesn't strain Imperial Valley's grid. IID's independent network (separate from the rest of California) makes this possible.
Designed to use treated municipal wastewater — the purple-pipe kind that currently goes to waste. After the cities of Imperial and El Centro withdrew from that arrangement, river water became a documented last resort; the developer's request to IID is ~880 acre-feet/yr, about 0.03% of IID's entitlement.
Simple version: It's a giant warehouse of computers on industrial land the county already zoned for exactly this use. It brings its own power, uses recycled water, and pays billions into the local economy. The only question is whether it gets built.
Water is sacred in the Imperial Valley. The opposition knows that. So let's look at the actual facts side by side.
| The Question | ✗ What opponents imply | ✓ What's actually true |
|---|---|---|
| Water source | Uses Colorado River water, competing with farms | Designed for recycled municipal wastewater (purple pipe). The cities withdrew, so river water is a last resort: ~880 acre-feet/yr, ~0.03% of IID's entitlement and less than the farm it replaces |
| Water system | Open discharge into the environment | Closed-loop: water circulates and returns to treatment cycle |
| Impact on farmers | Reduces ag water allocation | Built around a separate recycled supply; the last-resort river request is ~880 acre-feet/yr, less than the farmland the site replaces. (Whether fallowing fully offsets it is a litigated argument, not settled fact.) |
| Impact on IID canals | Draws from All-American Canal | Designed around recycled wastewater, not canal diversions. The last-resort IID request is ~880 acre-feet/yr — ~0.03% of IID's entitlement |
| Daily volume cited | "750,000 gallons" — sounds alarming | Comparable to a medium-sized municipal park, and designed to draw from treated wastewater rather than the river. |
| Salton Sea | No environmental commitment | $1.5M binding restoration commitment with operational contributions |
Purple pipe = recycled water. California uses this for golf courses, highway medians, and industrial parks statewide. It is not potable water. The IVDC was designed to run on it — and after the cities of Imperial and El Centro withdrew from the recycled-water arrangement, the developer's last-resort request to IID is ~880 acre-feet/yr, about 0.03% of IID's Colorado River entitlement. The $1.5M for Salton Sea restoration is more than any opposing organization has offered.
This is the annual, recurring property tax from IVDC — not a one-time grant. Here's what it looks like in real terms:
| Time horizon | Cumulative school & public service revenue |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | $28.75M |
| 5 years | $143.75M |
| 10 years | $287.5M |
| 20 years | $575M |
No one blocking this project has said where this money comes from instead. Because there is no answer. Imperial County school districts operate with some of the lowest per-pupil budgets in California. This is the single biggest opportunity in decades to change that equation.
Click any step to see details.
Ministerial approval on I-2 industrial land. Exactly what the law requires for by-right zoning.
The city sued to block construction — despite having no jurisdiction over the project site.
The court found the city's arguments "legally insufficient" and upheld the county's approval.
Despite losing in court, the city is appealing. Every month of appeal = more delay = more economic loss.
Developers filed a federal §1983 suit alleging a $83M demand was made to drop opposition — greenmail.
The court already ruled. Construction workers are waiting. School districts are waiting. The only thing keeping this project from breaking ground is an appeal that a judge already said lacks merit.
Counting from January 1, 2025 · Updates every second
Based on $20M/month in construction wages + $2.4M/month in property tax · $736,000 per day total
The county approved it. The court upheld it. The jobs are waiting. The only thing missing is your voice.