STRAIGHT ANSWER
Is the water AI data centers use destroyed?
No. Water consumed by evaporative cooling re-enters the hydrologic cycle. But USGS defines consumptive use as water not returned to the immediate water environment, which is the point: it is unavailable locally, at the time and quality it was taken, and that is what a stressed basin or a hot-week utility peak actually cares about.
The context
This is why 'the water comes back' and 'the water is gone' are both incomplete. Return flow only offsets local impact if its quantity, timing, temperature, and quality do. Replenishment projects are a separate, modeled benefit that may occur elsewhere or later, not a one-for-one cancel of peak withdrawal.
What this answer does not say
- That evaporation is locally harmless.
- That replenishment commitments cancel consumption one-for-one.