The Friends Board Opposes Proposed AI Data Center

The Friends board has sent this letter to the DeForest Village board:

On behalf of the Friends of Cherokee Marsh, we wish to voice concerns over multiple developments in the upper Yahara River watershed and, specifically, the proposed QTS data center.

While the focus of DeForest officials is understandably the Village of DeForest, your decisions can have lasting effects on the entire Yahara and Rock River watersheds.

Downstream from DeForest is Cherokee Marsh, Dane County’s largest remaining wetland. More than 4000 acres of wetlands and uplands at the Marsh are protected as public lands by Dane County, the City of Madison, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The Marsh lands are priceless habitat for plants and wildlife, including federally protected Bald Eagles and such rare or endangered species as Blanding’s Turtle, Henslow’s Sparrow, Little Brown Bats, Rusty-patched Bumblebees, and native orchids. The wetlands and river are also critical spawning habitat for game fish and support significant populations of amphibians threatened by habitat loss.

From a human perspective, Cherokee Marsh:

° absorbs heavy rains and tempers flood surges, protecting the City of Madison and downstream communities

° filters stormwater runoff—sediment, pollutants, and nutrients that cause algal blooms—that enter the Yahara River upstream

° improves water quality by discharging cold, clean groundwater into the lower Yahara River and Lake Mendota

° offers opportunities for fishing, paddling, and walking as well as environmental education for both children and adults.

These habitats, flora and fauna, and practical functions of Cherokee Marsh are crucial to protect. A healthy marsh depends on a clean and consistent flow of water from upstream. A serious drop in water levels, a chemical spill, an unprecedented rise in nutrients or temperature—all these and more could irreparably damage Cherokee Marsh.

As others have noted in letters to you, DeForest's 2025 Comprehensive Plan prioritizes protecting environmental corridors; protecting and improving water quality in the Yahara watershed; stewarding land, water, and natural resources; safeguarding residents from natural hazards such as flooding; preserving open space; and protecting natural features. We applaud these goals and urge their continued prioritization.

How will the proposed data center affect groundwater stores, drainage and runoff, sediments and pollutants, wildlife corridors and ephemeral spawning pools, and ambient noise (not to mention energy usage, grid reliability, roads and traffic, public health, and access to open space)? As IT specialist Ana Wisnefske wrote in her own letter to the board, data centers elsewhere (including ones operated by QTS) have documented histories of contaminating their local waters through chemical spills, coolant leaks, or improper wastewater management.

While DeForest seeks answers to these urgent questions and attempts to envision contracts and regulations to protect the Village from financial and environmental risks, the federal government has issued an executive order limiting the power of local and state governments to enact such regulations.

Given the many unknowns about the data center, and many unknowable aspects of its future impact, compounded by a possible inability to impose the regulations that you want and need, we urge you to deny approval of the construction and operation of the QTS Data Center.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors, Friends of Cherokee Marsh

info@cherokeemarsh.org

cherokeemarsh.org

Sheila Leary (president)

Timothy Baker (vice president)

Lesleigh Luttrell (treasurer)

Wendy Murkve (secretary)

Linda Malkin

Jim Mand

Paul Noeldner

Ed Snyder

Russell Schwalbe

opposes proposed AI data center