On April 22, 2026, the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority passed a resolution proposing a minimum 12-month moratorium on providing water and sewage services to data centers. The YCUA board unanimously voted to approve the resolution.
This year-long pause follows a City Council 12-month moratorium concerning zoning permits for data centers within city limits.
At a special Township Board meeting April 15, 2026, Ypsilanti Township requested the water and sewer moratorium. The approved moratorium, Resolution 26-08, concerns hyperscale data centers, mid-sized data centers, artificial intelligence computing facilities and high-performance computational centers. It temporarily halts new service connections, capacity reservations, infrastructure commitments and preliminary approvals for these facilities.
YCUA and community members in favor of this moratorium argue that the hyperscale data centers can use up to five million gallons of water per day and generate significant amounts of wastewater. Other points of concern in Resolution 26-08 include straining Ypsilanti infrastructure, tax incentives increasing demand and doubts about safety and sustainability.
During this pause, YCUA will conduct comprehensive studies on water supply and demand capacity, wastewater treatment capabilities, financial impacts, need for infrastructure, environmental and sustainability effects and emergency preparedness and system resilience. The resolution explains that these studies will be transparent, available to the public, frequently updated and reviewed by independent experts.
The overall purpose of the passed moratorium is to protect long-term water and sewer sustainability, avoid overloading new infrastructure and ensure any future approvals are backed by science and research.
A driver displays protest signs criticizing the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory supercomputing facility proposed for Ypsilanti Township outside of the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority administration building during the April 22, 2026, meeting.
Community input
A computing facility project proposed by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory for construction in Ypsilanti Township has sparked some backlash from local residents.
Ten community members chose to speak at the YCUA meeting, all in support of the moratorium. Tim Bruno, a Saline resident, came to Ypsilanti to warn the community of what Saline is now facing with the construction of its latest data center.
“Do anything you can to stop these things … if you haven’t seen the one in Saline, go drive down there and take a look. It looks like two airports put together. It’s gigantic. They are going to lie and cheat until this thing morphs into something you cannot control.”
After many other community members spoke, Ypsilanti Township resident Anna Waylan said, “I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said, but the more voices on record against this, the better.”
