Two of the most water-intensive sectors in the United States — avocado agriculture and data center operations — consume water at surprisingly comparable scales, each in the range of 100–170 billion gallons per year.
Avocados are among the most water-demanding fruits in commercial production. It takes approximately 320 liters (~85 gallons) of water to grow a single avocado, or roughly 2,000 liters per kilogram (~240 gallons per pound). In the United States, avocados are grown primarily in California — a chronically water-scarce state — and the country imports the vast majority of its supply from Mexico, where water stress in growing regions is even more severe.
