Google’s water use in The Dalles has nearly tripled in the past five years, and the company’s data centers now consume more than a quarter of all the water used in the city.

That’s according to records released this week after the city settled a lawsuit against The Oregonian/OregonLive and agreed to hand over data on Google’s water consumption. The company’s water use is poised to continue soaring in the years ahead, as Google has plans for two more data centers along the Columbia River.

The numbers illuminate a long-running debate over the future of The Dalles’ water supply, and the potential consequences of Google’s continued growth.

“If the data center water use doubles or triples over the next decade, it’s going to have serious effects on fish and wildlife on source water streams, and it’s potentially going to have serious effects for other water users in the area of The Dalles,” said John DeVoe, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group WaterWatch.

Google and the city maintain that a deal they struck last year, which commits Google to a $28.5 million upgrade in The Dalles’ water infrastructure, is adequate to meet future water needs for both the company and its neighbors.

Google ceded some water rights associated with own industrial land, signing it over to the city — along with the money to upgrade the water system — in exchange for an increased supply of municipal water.

“What we thought was really important was that we partner with the local utility and actually transfer those water rights over to the utility in a way that benefits the entire community,” said Ben Townsend, Google’s global head of infrastructure and water strategy.

Google built its first data center in The Dalles in 2005. It has received tax breaks worth at least $260 million since then. The company has also become an important component of the local economy, with about 200 employees. Its original data center went onto the tax rolls last year after its property tax exemptions expired, generating more than $5 million in local taxes.

The Dalles turned over records of Google’s water consumption this past week after an unsuccessful, 13-month legal fight to keep the information secret. In a settlement with The Oregonian/OregonLive, The Dalles agreed to provide public access to 10 years of historical data on Google’s water use and to honor future records requests.

The records show that Google’s water use is up threefold since 2017, the year before the company opened a third data center in The Dalles. Data centers are packed with hundreds or thousands of powerful computers. The water provides essential cooling, and Google said the increased water consumption reflects the demands of its newest local data center.

Google’s data centers used 355 million gallons of The Dalles’ water last year, 29% of the city’s total water consumption. The Dalles, whose name is derived from a French term referencing water flowing through a narrow channel, has a population of about 16,000.

Though it sits along the Columbia River, it’s in a meteorologically dry region, with less than half the annual rainfall Portland r