Texas lawmakers take up data center water use concerns
Texas lawmakers convened a 10-hour hearing to address concerns about data center water usage, revealing that over 80% of data centers in the state failed to comply with a legally required water use survey. Rural residents and local officials testified about water scarcity issues and the impact of data centers, prompting calls for a statewide moratorium on new projects. Industry representatives from major tech companies presented their efforts in sustainable water practices, while Governor Greg Abbott issued directives for state agencies to ensure data centers do not burden natural resources.
Texas lawmakers held a lengthy 10-hour hearing where they addressed significant concerns regarding data center water consumption across the state. A key revelation from Temple McKinnon, Director of the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Supply Planning Division, was that over 80% of the 341 data centers in Texas failed to respond to a legally mandated survey about their surface and groundwater usage, despite potential Class C misdemeanor charges for non-compliance. This lack of data spurred frustration among committee members, including Representative Trent Ashby, who emphasized the critical need for this information given the massive water usage.
Rural Texans voiced strong opposition, sharing experiences of diminishing water access due to nearby data center developments. Roger Browning, a cattle ranger from Quanah, described neighbors' wells going dry or significantly reduced. Tom Green County Commissioner Shawn Nanny conveyed his constituents' anger and fear over a proposed data center in his precinct, urging lawmakers to grant local officials more authority to evaluate and restrict such projects. Many attendees called for Governor Greg Abbott and the legislature to enact a moratorium on all new data center projects until proper data can be collected and regulations established.
Conversely, a panel of data center executives, including Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition (representing companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI), defended the industry's commitment to water issues. Beau Shilz from Amazon Web Services and Ben Townsend from Google’s Head of Infrastructure Strategy and Sustainability provided examples of innovative cooling techniques and the use of non-potable or closed-loop systems to reduce strain on community water supplies, cautioning against restrictive mandates that could hinder innovation.
Public sentiment, reflected in a Texas Politics Project poll, showed 56% of registered voters opposed to data center construction in their communities. While the legislature is expected to tackle data center regulation in a regular session next year, Governor Greg Abbott has already directed the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to implement measures ensuring data centers do not burden Texans or the state's natural resources, advocating for data centers to bring their own power, reuse their own water, and reduce electricity costs.