Data centre firm's accidental water plan reveal sparks farming concerns in Tasmania

Firmus Technologies, an artificial intelligence company building three data centres across northern Tasmania, accidentally published internal planning documents on its website that revealed intentions to draw water from the state's irrigation scheme for cooling purposes at its Wesley Vale facility. The document appeared on the company's FAQ page before being removed following inquiries from the ABC.

The revelation has unsettled farmers in the region who agreed to allow the Tasmanian Irrigation scheme's pipelines to cross their land under the understanding that the infrastructure would serve agricultural needs. The scheme, operated by the state-owned Tasmanian Irrigation company since 2008, was built to guarantee reliable water supplies for farming across the state. Farmers made significant concessions to accommodate the pipeline construction, accepting disruption to their operations in the belief they were investing in the district's agricultural future.

Nathan Richardson, who chairs the Sassafras Wesley Vale portion of the irrigation scheme, acknowledged that the volume of water Firmus seeks is modest in agricultural terms. He had been assured the company would require only a minimal allocation. Yet he emphasized that farmers throughout the region and across Tasmania had made their decision based on a specific purpose. "Farmers have been very obliging by letting this pipeline go through, make a hell of a mess in their farms, for the betterment of agriculture and the district," Richardson said. He stopped short of opposing the arrangement outright, instead calling on Tasmanian Irrigation and the government to negotiate firmly on behalf of existing scheme users and the broader community.

Matt Ryan, another farmer in the area, took a more pragmatic view. He confirmed that the quantity of water involved was not inherently problematic and acknowledged that industrial users might help sustain the scheme's financial viability. His concern was conditional: if Firmus becomes a major consumer that fundamentally reshapes the scheme's scope or impact on agricultural irrigators, that would warrant a different conversation entirely.

Firemus responded to ABC questions by clarifying its strategy. The company intends to capture and store rainwater on site as its primary cooling solution, with a storage capacity of one million litres—seven hundred thousand of which would be dedicated to cooling operations. The company notes that active cooling is required only on days when temperatures exceed 26 degrees Celsius. Any discussion of supplementary water from the irrigation scheme, Firmus stated, relates to contingency and resilience planning rather than routine operations. Should a connection to the scheme prove unavailable, the company indicated it would truck water to the facility.

The company's earlier public statements had characterized the Wesley Vale centre's annual water consumption as equivalent to that of a restaurant, a figure that now sits alongside the more detailed contingency planning that emerged from the accidental disclosure.

Tasmanian Irrigation has made no commitment to Firmus. A spokesperson confirmed that no undertaking has been given to the company and that any application from an industrial user would require government consideration and community engagement with existing scheme customers. Minister Felix Ellis stated that the government would evaluate any formal proposal through its standard process, though no such proposal has yet been received. Labor MP Jen Butler indicated her party is seeking additional information from the government about the arrangement.

The situation now hinges on whether Firmus will formally request access to the irrigation scheme and how state authorities will weigh industrial water demand against the agricultural purpose for which farmers accepted the infrastructure's presence on their land.