My interpretation of their point was that more demand for water with a fixed supply of water will only make our water problems worse. Not that data centers are causing this problem on their own.
Some SMB's that I have met over the years are great at pretending they don't have money when hiring but are very profitable. I think that fits the "bad company, no financing" and is worth mentioning.
This thread is interesting because we're talking about success for different people. Success for the founder? The money? The employees? The answers are relative to the stakeholder we're talking about.