Texas officials face limits in data center water use crackdown

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have signaled a crackdown on data centers that failed to disclose required water-use information over the last five years. However, experts suggest the state's current legal tools may be insufficient to ensure compliance from the rapidly expanding industry.

Under existing state law, facilities that fail to complete mandatory water-use surveys can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor. This carries a maximum fine of only $500 and the potential loss of certain state funding and environmental permits. Critics, including representatives from the nonprofit Public Citizen, argue that such negligible penalties provide little incentive for large companies that consume millions of gallons of water annually to cool their servers.

Increasing the severity of these fines would require legislative action, but the Texas legislature is not scheduled to convene for its next session until January 2027. In response to the issue, Abbott’s office stated that the water board will coordinate with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to manage oversight.