An approach to water restoration that benefits communities and the environment

At Meta, we build innovative, sustainable data centers that bring our technologies and services to life for people around the world. Water stewardship — using water efficiently, being transparent with our water data and restoring more water than is consumed in water-stressed areas — is a key component of the sustainability efforts behind those data centers.

Today, we share Our Approach to Water Restoration, which outlines our progress and principles around water restoration.

Cover of the approach to water restoration report cover

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We’ve set a goal to be water positive for our global operations in 2030. This means we will restore more water than we consume in our operations through water restoration projects that address shared water challenges in the watersheds where we operate.

We approach water management with the technical expertise and responsibility this vital resource deserves. We know that reducing our data center water consumption and being more efficient in our data center operations will be key to reaching our water positive goal, but we also recognize that to balance our operational water use, we need to support local water restoration projects that support the communities where we have operations. At the watershed level, we will restore 200% of consumption in high water stress regions and 100% of consumption in medium water stress regions.

Our approach to water restoration

Since 2017, Meta has been actively involved in over 30 water restoration projects across nine watersheds. In 2023 alone, the operational restoration projects returned over 1.5 billion gallons of water to high and medium water stress regions.

To ensure our efforts are addressing local shared water challenges, we require a hydrological connection between water projects and our data centers, considering both the location and the source of the water we are using.

Examining Hydrosheds data and local watershed context helps us determine where we will invest in projects. For areas that include highly engineered systems with dams, reservoirs and canals that move water over vast distances, we also consider the location of source water supplied by our utilities. This approach lets us adjust efforts based on regional needs. We recognize that it takes more effort to move the needle toward basin-level sustainability in high-stress regions, but also that water is an increasingly critical issue in watersheds considered medium water-stress.

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Supporting water restoration projects

The water restoration projects we support are designed to address distinct local conditions, yet together they help address the shared water challenges in the region. These projects generally fall into categories that include:

conservation and ecosystem restoration to help protect wildlife and wetland;
water supply and reliability projects, which increase available water supply through improved efficiency, leak detection and repair or other methods;
water access, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects that support sustainable access to safe, affordable community drinking water supplies; and
water quality projects that capture and reduce pollution incorporating wetland and agriculture best management practices.

We take a rigorous approach to selecting water restoration projects to ensure a lasting, positive impact on the local watershed and communities. We look for locally relevant projects that address shared water challenges and generate co-benefits for the ecosystem and community. Understanding local watershed needs and challenges is the first stage of sourcing a project.

Infographic showing the timeline milestones including risk assessment and stakeholder mapping (2 to 3 months), then source water restoration projects (6 months to 3 years), then assessment of expected VWBs (2 to 3 months), then project implementation (1 to 2 years), and finally third-party validation and reporting (ongoing, annually)

To measure impact, Meta relies on the Volumetric Water Benefits (VWBs) accounting methodology — defined as the volume of water that results from water stewardship activities relative to a unit of time that benefit the hydrology in a beneficial way, help reduce shared water challenges or improve water stewardship outcomes. The VWBs of each project are measured annually by an independent third-party; our most recent report was prepared by LimnoTech.

Restoration Spotlight

Rio Grande River

Supporting the Rio Grande River’s ecosystem through partnerships with the National Forest Foundation and Audubon Southwest are just some examples of the work we’re engaged in. These efforts focus on restoring natural water storage, improving ecosystem health, and addressing water scarcity issues exacerbated by climate change. Meta’s long-term commitment enables effective water management, benefiting both the environment and local communities in New Mexico.

Achieving global water security requires collaboration and collective action. To succeed in creating a scalable, industrywide effort toward efficient water management, we must evolve the way we measure water restoration success to look holistically at our efforts, identifying projects that contribute toward biodiversity initiatives and drive climate resilience.

What’s ahead: A vision for water security

Meta remains committed to restoring more water than we consume across our operations in 2030. We believe that corporate investment, cross-industry alliances, and long-term partnerships with NGOs are critical to solving shared water challenges. Water is a shared resource, and we strive to be good water stewards in the communities where we operate.

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