A newspaper reporter will go in front of a state records committee in Utah Wednesday to demand that the state orders the City of Bluffdale to hand over records that indicate just how much water the new National Security Agency data center in the city consumes.

The Salt Lake Tribune's Nate Carlisle is taking the issue to the Utah State Records Committee after Bluffdale officials declined to provide the records to the newspaper after an official request under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act.

The city sells water to the data center at a rate that is lower than it charges other facilities that consume water at this scale. “We know they're getting an unusual discount,” Carlisle said in a phone interview.

The paper is pursuing the records so aggressively because it wants people in Utah to have an educated discussion about implications of the presence of the massive NSA facility in their state, he said. “How much water the NSA's data cener is receiving fits into then larger discussion about the National Security Agency and its role in Utah.”

This is an important discussion because Utah is the second-driest state in the country, and the data center could be consuming more than 1m gallons of water a day. “The exact amount, again, for purposes [of knowing] where our water is going should be disclosed,” Carlisle said.

Taxpayers also have a financial interest in knowing how much the NSA is paying Bluffdale, he added.

Bluffdale refused to provide the information citing a state statute that precludes officials from releasing records that may jeopardize security of governmental property, programs or record keeping systems, according to the Tribune. City officials have also told the paper that the NSA was not willing to disclose the records.

Another NSA data center being built in Fort Meade, Maryland, may use up to 5m gallons of water a day for cooling. That is reportedly the pumping capacity of the water pump the agency is building that will supply recycled water to the facility.

Capacity of the pump may not necessarily be indicative of the facility's actual consumption, however.

The NSA's Utah data center is larger than the Maryland facility will be. The Bluffdale site was expected to have four 25,000 sq ft data halls, while total raised floor in Maryland will measure 70,000 sq ft.

Carlisle said past records committee hearings he attended were fair, even though he lost.

The committee's decision Wednesday can be appealed. “After the committee issues the decision, any party can appeal by filing a lawsuit in state court,” he said.