--- title: "the same cooling plant, two snowpacks" canonical_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/the-same-cooling-plant-two-snowpacks markdown_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/the-same-cooling-plant-two-snowpacks.md subtitle: "boulder at 13.1 percent, columbus at 8.8" category: ecosystem-services --- # the same cooling plant, two snowpacks *boulder at 13.1 percent, columbus at 8.8* A large US global technology services company runs halls in Boulder, Colorado, and Columbus, Ohio. Both use water-based cooling that needs a continuous supply. In September 2026, Lloyds Banking Group and Earth Blox scored that supply in *The Missing Line Item* as **Nature Value at Risk**: the share of site revenue that could be exposed if water degrades or drops out in a severe but plausible 1-in-20-year year. Boulder reads **13.1 percent**. Columbus reads **8.8 percent**. The snow and the rivers exist whether or not the hall is built. A southern pine stand, and the plants holding a slope, exist the same way whether or not anyone buys a certificate. Nature Value at Risk is a percentage a bank can read. [Ensurance](/water-abundance.ensurance?from=guide) funds the living system. It is not the percentage. :::johnson **the plant is the constant. the watershed is the variable.** Both figures are shares of site revenue in a 1-in-20-year year. Boulder is 13.1 percent. Columbus is 8.8 percent. [fund the snow and the river →](/water-abundance.ensurance?from=guide) ::: ## what the two percentages measure Nature Value at Risk, in this report, is the share of economic value that could be at risk if one natural resource or service drops out. At a hall, the denominator is revenue at that site. The scenario is a 1-in-20-year year, which Lloyds and Earth Blox equate to about a 5 percent chance in a given year. Each dependency is scored alone. At both halls, water’s Nature Value at Risk is three to four times any other dependency, and those other lines stay on their own rows. The authors call the figures directional scenario estimates. Participating companies supplied the financials and the site locations. Earth Blox joined them to geospatial data. The study keeps these percentages apart from forecasts, expected losses, and statements of future financial performance. Lloyds Banking Group wrote it with Earth Blox. Lloyd's of London, the insurance market, is a separate institution. | site | water-supply share of site revenue | the supply the chapter describes | | --- | --- | --- | | Boulder, Colorado | 13.1% | snowpack, treated as the reservoir | | Columbus, Ohio | 8.8% | more than one source; a reserve illustrates it | The 13.1 and the 8.8 are those 1-in-20 shares of site revenue. The 2026 Drought Watch and the 2024 Columbus reserves illustrate the two supplies. ## boulder’s reservoir is the snowpack Mountain snow **acts as a natural reservoir** for the supply in the Boulder account. Early 2026, the chapter records Colorado’s lowest winter snowpack in 40 years. That statewide low is what the chapter says led the city to declare Drought Watch, the first since 2012. Boulder Creek reaches the South Platte. The snow and the creek are the basin on this side of the comparison, and the river system is the [South Platte](/south-platte-river.basin?from=guide). The 13.1 percent stays a 1-in-20 share of site revenue. ### what does snowpack have to do with a data center? Snowpack is storage for the supply, still on the mountain, treated as the reservoir. A utility takes from the creek and also serves households. Drought Watch is the city stage the chapter says followed the thin pack. Of these two sites, only Boulder stores the year as snow. ## columbus sits in a different basin Columbus has more than one source. In the 2024 drought, described as the most severe in the region in 25 years, the city drew on reserves and supplemental infrastructure. The reserve the city opened illustrates that supply. The 8.8 percent stays a 1-in-20 share of site revenue. Columbus sits in a different basin. The South Platte page is Boulder’s river system, because Boulder Creek reaches the South Platte. The contrast at Columbus is a second source and a reserve the city opened. ### why do two data centers with the same cooling have different water risk? The sameness is water-based cooling that needs a continuous supply. With that cooling held constant, the watershed is what changes the score. Boulder’s supply is snow treated as a natural reservoir. Columbus has more than one source. The scores remain 13.1 percent and 8.8 percent of site revenue in a 1-in-20-year year. Water’s Nature Value at Risk is three to four times any other dependency at both sites. The percentage stays their translation of a place. ## data center cooling water, held constant ### does the equipment set the exposure? No. With this continuous-supply cooling held constant, the watershed is what changes the score. Water’s Nature Value at Risk is three to four times any other dependency at both sites. Cooling plant is replaced on roughly fifteen-year cycles, a replacement cycle on which a different cooling method may take a substantial modification. ## the snow is still the asset The snow and the river exist whether or not the hall is built. Here, Nature Value at Risk is a 1-in-20 share of site revenue. Funding the snow and the river is a separate step from printing the percentage. How a hall’s draw meets a watershed someone is willing to fund is the subject of [data centers drink water](/guide/data-centers-drink-water-ensurance-refills-the-glass?from=guide). This page is the split between two supplies under the same continuous-supply cooling. An operator who needs the basin named against a specific hall can start from [data centers](/solutions/data-centers?from=guide&topic=nature-value-at-risk). For Boulder, the chapter’s basin is the snow and Boulder Creek. A utility takes from that creek and also serves households. [Utilities](/solutions/utilities?from=guide&topic=nature-value-at-risk) names source watershed investment for that creek. ## sources [The Missing Line Item](https://25218570.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/25218570/Customer%20content/The%20Missing%20Line%20Item%20-%20Lloyds%20&%20Earth%20Blox.pdf) — Lloyds Banking Group and Earth Blox, September 2026. Water-supply Nature Value at Risk at two sites of an unnamed US technology services company: 13.1 percent of site revenue in Boulder, where snowpack is treated as a natural reservoir, and 8.8 percent in Columbus, where more than one source and a reserve the city opened illustrate the supply. [The Missing Line Item, landing page](https://www.earthblox.io/resources/the-missing-line-item-financial-exposure-hidden-in-environmental-dependencies) — Earth Blox resource page for the same study. ## the series - [what nature value at risk actually measures](/guide/what-nature-value-at-risk-actually-measures?from=guide) - [the fibre grows on land the mill does not own](/guide/the-fibre-grows-on-land-the-mill-does-not-own?from=guide) - [the same cooling plant, two snowpacks](/guide/the-same-cooling-plant-two-snowpacks?from=guide) - [a hectare map is not a payment](/guide/a-hectare-map-is-not-a-payment?from=guide) - [fund the stand the percentage points at](/guide/fund-the-stand-the-percentage-points-at?from=guide)