AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) \u2014 As Texas continues to attract major technology investments, state lawmakers are raising concerns about how the rapid growth of data centers could affect water supplies, particularly in rural parts of East Texas.<\/p>\n
The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing Tuesday to examine the industry\u2019s water demands as state officials work on the next Texas State Water Plan ahead of the 2027 legislative session.<\/p>\n
Much of the discussion centered on whether the state has enough information to accurately predict future water needs as more data centers move into Texas.<\/p>\n
Temple McKinnon, director of Water Supply Planning Divisions for the Texas Water Development Board, testified that the agency surveyed industrial facilities, including 341 data centers, earlier this year to better understand water usage in 2025. However, only about 17% of facilities responded.<\/p>\n
That response rate drew criticism from lawmakers.<\/p>\n
McKinnon acknowledged the low participation and said the agency relies on historical data and estimates when survey responses are unavailable.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany facilities, there\u2019s low response rates across the board, there can be, and when we don\u2019t get a response, we do whatever we can to estimate around it. We might roll that over depending on past use,\u201d McKinnon said.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers questioned whether those estimates are sufficient given the pace at which data centers are being developed across the state.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, shifted the conversation toward East Texas, where he said some counties lack groundwater conservation districts that monitor and regulate groundwater use.<\/p>\n
Ashby asked McKinnon whether a data center located in a county without a groundwater conservation district would face any restrictions on groundwater pumping:<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you\u2019re in a county with a data center or proposed data center and there is no GCD (groundwater conservation district), there is no requirement or obstacle if you\u2019re a data center to overcome to pump as much groundwater as you want, am I correct?\u201d Ashby asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would be no entity in place to regulate that use, yes,\u201d McKinnon responded.<\/p>\n
The exchange highlighted concerns from some East Texas residents who worry that growing industrial water demands could strain local groundwater supplies in areas with limited oversight.<\/p>\n
Ashby said he has heard from constituents concerned that future data center development could impact water availability for rural communities that depend on wells and aquifers.
\nGoogle announces $10M Texas water impact fund; makes data center water use pledges<\/p>\n
Lawmakers emphasized that additional studies and more accurate reporting will be necessary to understand the long-term impact that data centers could have on Texas water resources and to determine whether current planning efforts adequately account for future growth.<\/p>\n
Texans remain wary of the rapid growth of data centers, citing concerns like noise, water use, energy demand, and land impact. A UT Austin Texas Politics Project poll reflects that sentiment, showing 56% oppose local data?center construction while 29% support it. Still, lawmakers noted a competing pressure: the national?security risk of falling behind China in the race for advanced artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Throughout the hearing, multiple county?level officials urged the Legislature to give local governments more authority to block or regulate data?center projects. They argued that communities should have a stronger voice in deciding whether these facilities fit their long?term development goals.<\/p>\n
The hearing remained underway Tuesday afternoon. Committee Chairman State Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said discussions could continue into the evening as lawmakers gather information to help shape future water policy and planning efforts across Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) \u2014 As Texas continues to attract major technology investments, state lawmakers are raising concerns about how the rapid growth of data centers could affect water supplies, particularly in rural parts of East Texas. The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing Tuesday to examine the industry\u2019s water demands as state … Continue reading Could data centers pump unlimited groundwater in parts of East Texas? Lawmakers raise concerns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1517887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 08:10:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1517887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1517889,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517887\/revisions\/1517889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1517887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1517887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1517887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}