The $1 billion expenditure will finance the construction of three new buildings on the existing data center site.

Construction of the new buildings is expected to be completed in about six months to one year. Kava told a crowd of business and elected officials — including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra — that Google’s Council Bluffs data center, which has been in place for about 15 years, will be “one of the world’s largest data center campuses” when expansion is completed.

“As companies and businesses grow, we’re going to grow right along,” he said.

The expanded data center, Kava said, will facilitate the company’s efforts to bolster its cloud computing and artificial intelligence initiatives. Google’s existing Council Bluffs data helps keep some of its most-used programs, including Google Maps and Cloud, running.

The data center’s expanded capabilities, Kava said in an interview, will “continue to help the customers here in Iowa locally.”

“But it has greater presence both nationally and potentially internationally as well,” he added.

Tuesday’s announcement marks the latest development for Google’s data centers in the Omaha area. The company is building a new data center in northwest Omaha to join existing data centers in Council Bluffs and Papillion.

In an interview, Feenstra said Google’s Council Bluffs data center has been and will continue to be a “game-changer” for Council Bluffs and Iowa.

“We want to continue to be the mecca for the distribution of AI and (cloud) computing,” Feenstra said.

In a press release, Google said its Council Bluffs data center has spurred more than $1.8 billion in economic activity in Iowa. Google added that the new $1 billion investment is on top of the more than $5.5 billion Google has poured into Iowa since 2007, the company said in a press release.

Kava also announced Google has donated $1.3 million to help the Great Outdoors Foundation with its water quality and conservation projects in the southwest Iowa portion of the Missouri River Basin.

Great Outdoors Foundation CEO Hannah Inman said Google’s donation will help the foundation fund 47 projects to reduce stormwater runoff and erosion, improve flood resiliency, water quality and aquatic habitats. The projects, Inman said, will help local watersheds and “positively” affect the water quality in the Missouri River, Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.

The timing of Google’s donation to the Great Outdoors Foundation was not lost on officials. The donation came as the Missouri River continues to flood.

“Unfortunately, it’s not the last time we’re going to face such an issue,” Kava said of the flooding. “These preservation and (other) programs … are so important. It’s not just for right now, but it’s for the future.”