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The Tucson City Council in Arizona has unanimously voted to reject the Amazon-linked Project Blue data center.

At a meeting on Wednesday, council members voted 7-0 to block the project proposed by Beale Infrastructure, citing strong public opposition and concerns about the high water use.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Beale Infrastructure said it was “disappointed in the mayor and city council’s decision not to pursue this opportunity for Tucson, despite close collaboration with municipal engineering teams on plans directly compatible with Tucson’s Climate Action and Adaption and One Water plans.”

An Amazon Web Services spokesperson told Newsweek that the company “has previously engaged in standard due diligence processes in Arizona, like we do in any geographic location we consider building and operating our infrastructure” and that it does not have “any commitments or agreements in place to develop this project.”

Tucson Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz told Newsweek that she voted against the project because “it didn’t align with our values, our climate reality, or the long-term economic vision our community has consistently called for.”

Why It Matters

Project Blue was billed as an investment that could generate $250 million in tax revenue and create 3,000 temporary construction jobs and up to 180 permanent jobs, according to the Tucson Sentinel, which cited the developers. But critics argued the environmental costs far outweighed the benefits.

Demand for data centers has surged with the rise of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. While advocates say they generate strong tax revenue for local governments and require a huge number of construction jobs to build, critics say the centers themselves employ relatively few people. And some communities have pushed back over concerns about the environmental and social impact.

What To Know

Government officials and representatives of developers had refused to confirm Amazon was behind Project Blue, citing the requirements of nondisclosure agreements.

But Councilmember Rocque Perez mentioned Amazon by name during Wednesday’s meeting, the Sentinel reported.

Pima County supervisors had approved the sale of 290 acres of land for the project, according to local station KGUN 9.

But it needed approval to annex the site into city limits so that it could procure the huge amounts of water needed to cool the center’s operations each day.

The first two sites combined would have required almost 2,000 acre-feet of water each year, making them Tucson Water’s biggest customer, the Sentinel reported.

City officials said the project would become “net water positive” because developers would invest in projects to secure new water resources offset their water use.

The project would use drinkable water for the first two years before switching to reclaimed water once a developer-funded pipeline is built.

The project faced criticism at three public meetings in recent weeks, including two in-person meetings that attracted up to 1,000 residents. Many cited the high water use, saying data centers should not be built in Tucson’s desert environment.

What People Are Saying

Beale Infrastructure said in its statement that it “was founded on the belief that data centers can and should be designed sustainably working in close partnership with communities. Beale’s mission is to push the industry forward and enable a responsible digital infrastructure future.

“Beale was invited by the City of Tucson to participate in this public process to provide transparency on conceptual plans for Project Blue, which was executed through multiple public information sharing sessions. We are disappointed in the mayor and city council’s decision not to pursue this opportunity for Tucson, despite close collaboration with municipal engineering teams on plans directly compatible with Tucson’s Climate Action and Adaption and One Water plans. It is a missed opportunity for the City to gain tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue, hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure to serve the community, and thousands of high-paying local and union jobs.”

It added: “Data centers are the backbone of the modern economy and are required to serve municipalities throughout the U.S. We would like to thank our supporters in the community. We look forward to sharing our future plans.”

An Amazon Web Services spokesperson told Newsweek: “AWS has previously engaged in standard due diligence processes in Arizona, like we do in any geographic location we consider building and operating our infrastructure. We do not have any commitments or agreements in place to develop this project and will continue to assess all potential geographic regions to ensure our data center developments provide the best possible product and value for our customers, while bringing positive benefits to the local communities where we operate.”

Santa Cruz told Newsweek: “The reason I voted to reject Project Blue is simple: it didn’t align with our values, our climate reality, or the long-term economic vision our community has consistently called for.

“I know that giant corporations prefer to operate in the shadows, but Tucson isn’t for sale. I’m not anti-tech, l’m anti-extraction. I believe in economic development that uplifts working people, supports unions, and builds long-term sustainability, not exploitation.”

Santa Cruz said during the meeting, per KGUN 9: “Construction jobs might come, but they’ll leave as fast as they arrive. And the reality is, data centers require very few long term workers. This won’t bring good, paying jobs, dignified jobs, the people actually need in this community. So let’s talk about the basics, water and energy. Headline after headline, city after city, we’ve seen how these facilities drain power and water.”

Ward 4 Councilmember Nikki Lee told Newsweek: “I voted no on Project Blue because even after months of research, community meetings, and opportunities to engage, it was clear that large-scale data centers, even those presented as a more sustainable alternative, are not the type of development Ward 4 residents want in their backyard.

“From the beginning, the project suffered from a lack of transparency, which eroded trust and made it difficult to recover. It also touched a deeper nerve in our community. Beneath the surface, there was a strong sentiment of distrust in government, distrust in corporations, and distrust in tech companies. People shared real fears about artificial intelligence, how rapidly things are evolving, and the impact these changes are having on our society. There is a growing sense that control is slipping away from everyday people. This felt like one of those rare moments where the community was able to take some of that power back. As their representative, my job is to bring their voice to the table, and that is what I did.”

The No Desert Data Center Coalition, which opposed Project Blue, said in a statement: “The rejection of Project Blue by Tucson City Council is a huge victory for our desert community and would not have happened without thousands of Tucsonans coming out to vehemently oppose it. We thank the Mayor and Council for standing strong and not folding to Beale’s intimidation tactics and greenwashing propaganda. Tucson made the right decision to halt Amazon’s harmful data center in its tracks and protect our water, air and a liveable climate. We will remain vigilant because we know big corporations like Amazon, Beale and TEP have a hard time taking no for an answer and we are committed to stopping any data center they try to force on us within our watershed.”

What’s Next

The vote ordered city staff to stop working with the project’s developers. The city council also voted for the city continue to develop regulations for future data center proposals.

Update 8/8/25, 4 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add statements from Amazon Web Services, Tucson Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz and Councilmember Nikki Lee.

Correction 8/8/25, 4 a.m. ET: This article and its headline have been updated to reflect that Project Blue was linked to Amazon. A statement from Beale Infrastructure has also been added.