Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas water agency to penalize data centers that don't report their water usage

Gov. [KSAT 12]

Gov. Greg Abbott has issued orders to the Texas Water Development Board to enforce penalties against data centers refusing to disclose their water consumption figures, addressing a persistent compliance problem in the state's industrial sector.

The move stems from widespread noncompliance with a mandatory water usage reporting requirement. Over the past three years, roughly 72 percent of the state's data centers have failed to respond to an annual survey administered by the water board, which relies on this information to project future water needs across Texas. Since 2020, the state agency has requested monthly water consumption data from these facilities each year.

"Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water," Abbott stated in a Monday release. "The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey. I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply." The governor requested a compliance and enforcement progress report from the water board by mid-October but did not specify what form the penalties would take.

The enforcement directive addresses a longstanding jurisdictional question. While state law stipulates that noncompliant data centers face Class C misdemeanor charges, the water board has maintained it lacks prosecutorial authority as a non-regulatory agency. The Tribune reported in July that agency officials acknowledged they do not maintain records of fines issued and instead pointed to local district attorneys and law enforcement as responsible for enforcement.

Data centers require substantial water supplies to cool servers and associated equipment, sometimes consuming millions of gallons annually. Beyond legal obligations, data center operators have financial incentives to comply: responding to the survey is required to access state funding or obtain certain environmental permits, according to Temple McKinnon, the water board's Water Supply Planning Division director.

A persistent criticism involves the opacity surrounding data center water usage and potential impacts on nearby communities. The water board releases compliance statistics only through public information requests, limiting accessibility of this data to the general public.