AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) – State lawmakers are demanding answers about how much water Texas data centers are actually using, and why the state still doesn’t have a clear number.
The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources met Tuesday in Austin to take up the issue, hearing from Texans, the Texas Water Development Board, the Public Utility Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Lawmakers said the number of data centers in Texas has exploded in a short amount of time, but many of those companies aren’t telling the state how much water they’re using.
Companies No-Show at Hearing
State Rep. Cody Harris (R-District 8) opened the hearing by calling out companies by name that were invited to testify, but were no-shows.
“When new developers enter a residential neighborhood with intent on building a new data center, and refuses to do any community townhalls, refuses to discuss their water and electricity usage, and refuses to testify before this very committee, then Texans rightfully get upset,” Harris said.
Harris said it’s companies like those that have fueled public distrust of data centers statewide.
Data Centers Surge, but Reporting Lags
According to the Texas Water Development Board, the number of data centers the state surveys has grown from 22 to 341. But lawmakers said the state still can’t get a full picture of how much water those facilities are using.
“It’s pretty frustrating to hear only 17 percent of the respondents have actually taken time to fill out the questionnaire as they’re required to do legally,” said State Rep. Trent Ashley (R-District 9).
The Water Development Board also admitted it has no way to track groundwater pumping by data centers in counties without a groundwater conservation district, which is the case for more than half of Texas counties. In those counties, there is no legal limit on how much groundwater a data center can pump.
“That’s a broken system. And that’s not your fault,” Ashley said. “But when you’re talking about massive water usage, especially groundwater, and the state can’t calculate how much water is being used, I think we can all understand why Texans are rightfully concerned.”
Separate Survey, Same Gaps
The Public Utility Commission ran its own survey this spring, separate from the Water Board’s, targeting data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities directly. The result: 28 companies responded, representing 92 facilities. Lawmakers said that’s less than a third of the data centers believed to be operating in Texas right now.
“There’s got to be an amount of data or the decision you make is not valid. That’s just how science works. You either have enough data or you don’t,” said State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-District 54). “It appears like the data centers are not reporting enough data for us to make these big long-term decisions.”
Lawmakers pressed PUC staff on why the survey was voluntary, and why the agency didn’t do more to boost responses, including mailing notices that went largely unanswered.
TCEQ Reveals Permitting Gap
The TCEQ outlined how it regulates data center wastewater discharge through state and federal permits, but under questioning, revealed a gap of its own.
Saddler said the agency has reopened permits for other industries over compliance issues, but not, to his knowledge, for a data center.
“Data centers, not to my knowledge, as far as reopening a permit associated with a data center to add requirements,” said Robert Saddler with the TCEQ.
Industry Pushes Back
The data center industry itself also had a seat at the table Tuesday. Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, told lawmakers the industry is taking the water question seriously.
“The data center industry takes water use efficiency, conservation and stewardship extremely seriously,” Diorio said. “The industry does not bury its head in the sand and does not act as though water is an endless resource available to it.”
But Ashley wasn’t satisfied, pointing right back at that 17 percent survey response rate.
“When 17 percent of data centers are responding, that gives you a black eye, and it tarnishes the reputation of your industry,” Ashley said. “The question that I have is what does the other 80 percent have to hide? What do they not want the public to know?”
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