What utter BS.  Facebook has spent probably close to twenty million on building its Altoona data center (only one built recently so will assume that is the one in question).  It did not take the municipal water supply, in fact this particular data center is one of the greenest in the world.  It did get a tax break on its water usage, like most large municipal customers do, and according to news articles had an additional water main run to the site, but it does not have any particular water requirements that would necessitate any magic source.  If you want to look for water savings in Altoona start at Adventureland and the amount of water being wasted there on a daily basis.<p>As for taxes, what taxes do you think were going to be assessed on this property?  It was an empty piece of land before FB arrived so it was not like the city was losing much property tax to begin with.  In return Facebook is paying salaries for forty or so people on site and the thousand or so who worked for over two years building the site. Oh, and because tech firms like it when others do the research and general site selection you will notice that Microsoft is dumping tens of millions into a data center in West Des Moines as well.  You&#x27;re welcome.<p>You &quot;allowed&quot; it because it was a good deal for a city like Altoona that otherwise was not much more than an amusement park and the last place to get gas on I-80 before you hit Des Moines.