Data center developers team with City of Turkey to address aging water system

Turkey’s aging water system has become a growing concern as QTS and Lancium move forward with plans for a major data center campus in Hall County and work with the city on improvements aimed at addressing long-standing water issues. Turkey City Manager Lynette Findley said the town’s water infrastructure includes cast iron and clay pipes, with some lines about 100 years old, making it difficult to add new service taps in certain areas. “That makes putting in new taps for service extremely difficult in some areas,” Findley said. She said some water projects have already replaced portions of lines in town, but the water tower is at the end of its life. On Thursday, the city had to shut off water to the entire town because of a leak. The shutdown came after QTS announced Monday that it would make a long-term investment of $250 million in water infrastructure, including replacing the water tower. “We have to replace that tower. There’s no saving it for the future. We’ve got to replace the lines at the same time because you can’t have one without the other. So it’s going to benefit the town of Turkey tremendously,” Findley said. Findley said the city has been trying to find a solution, but funding has been difficult for the small rural town. She said some people have suggested the city could have relied on grant funding instead of taking money connected to the data facility, but she said it is not that simple. “We have had several people say you could have gotten grant money. You didn’t have to take money from the data facility. That’s not necessarily the case. It’s not that easy. And it’s not that cut and dry. So we have been exploring all of those options,” Findley said. Findley said both companies have been in frequent communication with the city and have shown a willingness to help address some of the issues. “They don’t need to have a conversation with us. They’re choosing to, and I take that as a as a positive sign. They understand the impact that they’re going to have here and to mitigate some of the negativity. It makes sense for them to offer some things to Turkey,” Findley said. Findley said the city is currently working with an engineering firm to fix the water system. ___________ Follow KVII on social media: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@abc7amarillo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABC7Amarillo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/abc7amarillo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abc7amarillo/ Have a tip? Email us at kviinews@sbgtv.com Have a video or photo you want to share? Upload it to https://abc7amarillo.com/chimein KVII is a TX based station and an ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets, after pending transactions. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 38.7% of US television households and includes FOX, ABC, MyTV, CW, CBS, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates. #amarillo #texas #texasnews #abc7 #amarillonews #panhandle #texas