Hualapai Tribe Bans Hyperscale Data Centers on Reservation

The Hualapai Tribal Council enacted a moratorium on the development of hyperscale data centers across its nearly 1 million-acre reservation in northern Arizona. In a passed resolution, the council stated that facilities powering artificial intelligence pose a "direct and severe threat" to the tribe's environment, sacred water, and way of life.

Hualapai Chairman Duane Clarke emphasized the tribe's commitment to protecting its air, land, and water from such developments. This move comes as water consumption becomes a critical point of tension across the drought-stricken Southwest.

The moratorium follows a separate conflict in the city of Page, where the municipal government sold 500 acres to Huntley, LLC for $7 million for a proposed $10 billion data center. That sale faced opposition from the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation, which passed a resolution in February alleging a lack of transparency and a failure to consider environmental risks to the Navajo people.