LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - State Sen. Charles Perry said two West Texas towns are receiving new water infrastructure funded by AI data center developers.

Perry put the data centers' water use in context of the state's overall consumption."Today, it's projected somewhere around 4,000 acre-feet a year is what the AI data center community is using or will be using, though it will grow up from that. And I'll put that in comparison. We use 17 million acre-feet as a state," Perry said.

Perry said the design of the facilities is water efficient."They reflect an industry with capital money to actually design and develop and implement very water-efficient systems. So, they're thinking that on the front end, and if you do that and have the money, you can literally make almost a zero-sum game when it comes to water use. Most of them are actually becoming water contributors," Perry said.