Plans for a major Microsoft and UAE-based AI firm G42 data centre near Olkaria, in Kenya's Rift Valley, have stalled over power capacity concerns, but the proposed project has already ignited a broader debate about water security in a region under severe strain. Lake Naivasha (a freshwater lake whose basin supports farming, livestock, tourism and domestic use) is already overextended, with residents reporting dwindling piped supplies, drying rivers and groundwater decline — conditions that locals fear could worsen if a large industrial water user moves in. Kenya sits well below the UN's threshold for water scarcity at roughly 527 cubic metres of freshwater per person, a figure the FAO projects could fall further by 2030, making community members and conservationists wary of any new major abstraction even as some residents acknowledge the investment could bring jobs and infrastructure to the area.