Data Centers, Water, and Central Texas: A Growing Concern for Rural Communities

By Ashley Bates

When I attended a recent Texas water planning meeting, I expected to hear from the usual stakeholders: farmers worried about irrigation, ranchers concerned about livestock water supplies, and environmental groups focused on conservation and river health.

Instead, one topic dominated much of the public comment period: data centers.

Speaker after speaker voiced concerns about the rapid growth of large-scale data centers across Texas and the tremendous amount of water these facilities require to operate. While water rights, agriculture, and population growth remain major concerns, it became clear that many Texans are increasingly worried about whether our water infrastructure can keep up with the demands of the digital economy.

What Is a Data Center?

Most people use the internet every day without giving much thought to where their data is actually stored. Every email, online search, social media post, video stream, artificial intelligence query, and cloud-based document is processed and stored in a data center.

These facilities house thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands, of computer servers operating around the clock.

The challenge is that computers generate enormous amounts of heat. To prevent equipment from overheating, many data centers rely on cooling systems that consume significant amounts of water.

Just How Much Water Do They Use?

The answer varies by facility, but many large data centers consume millions of gallons of water each day.

A single large data center can use anywhere from hundreds of thousands to several million gallons daily depending on its size, cooling technology, and climate conditions. Much of that water is lost through evaporation during the cooling process and cannot be recovered.

As artificial intelligence continues to expand, demand for data centers is expected to increase dramatically. AI systems require substantially more computing power than traditional internet services, meaning larger facilities and greater cooling demands.

For communities already facing drought conditions, declining aquifer levels, and increasing municipal demand, these numbers are raising important questions.

Why This Matters to Central Texas

Central Texas has long-balanced competing water needs between cities, agriculture, industry, and the environment.

The region continues to experience rapid population growth. New housing developments, manufacturing facilities, and commercial projects all require additional water supplies. At the same time, many rural residents rely on groundwater sources that are increasingly under pressure.

The addition of large water-intensive data centers introduces another major demand into an already complicated equation.

For residents in communities like Cameron, Rockdale, Milano, Buckholts, and other rural areas throughout Central Texas, the concern isn't necessarily whether technology is good or bad. The concern is whether long-term water planning is keeping pace with development.

What I Heard at the Meeting

What surprised me most was not the discussion itself, but who was having it.

I expected concerns about irrigation, livestock, crop production, and environmental conservation. Those issues were certainly present, but many speakers focused primarily on data centers and their potential impact on future water availability.

The tone wasn't anti-technology. Rather, many speakers appeared to be asking a simple question:

Can Texas continue approving water-intensive projects without fully accounting for their long-term impact on local water supplies?

I spoke with Annie Hardy, one of the many individuals who addressed the water planning meeting. Her research, passion, and concern for the future of Texas water resources drew the first round of applause from the audience. Hardy presented data and projections that left many attendees visibly surprised by the scale of the challenges being discussed.

Hardy describes herself as a futurist, though others may view her as an advocate for responsible planning and resource management. During our conversation, she made a statement that stood out: "It's not the data centers themselves that are the issue, it's the amount of power and resources they currently require."

That comment raises an important question: As data centers continue expanding across Texas, are developers and operators doing enough to reduce their impact on the communities that host them?

The conversation extends far beyond technology. Concerns raised at the meeting included water consumption, energy demand, pollution, land use, and the effects these large-scale developments may have on surrounding property values. Many Texans still remember the widespread power outages during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, making questions about future energy capacity particularly relevant.

For many residents, the issue is not whether data centers should exist, but whether their growth can be balanced with responsible stewardship of the natural resources and infrastructure that Texas communities depend upon every day.

…Not to mention (insert Realtor plug here) land usage and appreciation and depreciation for surrounding land owners.

I also spoke with an industry professional who asked to remain anonymous and offered a different perspective on the challenges facing data center development. While acknowledging many of the concerns raised at the meeting, he emphasized that the industry is actively working to improve several of these issues.

Among the areas he identified for improvement was the need for earlier coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to better address traffic impacts associated with construction and ongoing operations. He also expressed concern that an increasingly younger and less experienced construction workforce can sometimes lead to quality control issues when projects are rushed or corners are cut.

However, he noted that many newer facilities are placing a greater emphasis on preventative maintenance and operational efficiency. In particular, he pointed to improvements in the maintenance and management of cooling and condenser systems, which can play a significant role in reducing resource consumption and improving overall facility performance.

His perspective served as a reminder that while concerns surrounding water use, energy demand, and infrastructure impacts are valid, there are also ongoing efforts within the industry to address these challenges and develop more sustainable practices moving forward.

The Bigger Question

Texas has always been a state that embraces growth and development. New industry brings jobs, tax revenue, and economic opportunity.

But water is not an unlimited resource.

Every new development, whether it's a subdivision, manufacturing plant, or data center, ultimately depends on the same finite water supply.

As more communities begin discussing water planning for the next 50 years, data centers are likely to remain at the center of the conversation.

The challenge facing Texas isn't whether we should have growth. The challenge is determining how to support growth while protecting the water resources that existing residents, farmers, ranchers, businesses, and future generations depend upon.

After attending this meeting, one thing became clear: the conversation about data centers is no longer confined to technology circles. It's becoming a water issue, a development issue, and increasingly, a local issue for communities across Central Texas.