TEXAS – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is directing the Texas Water Development Board to take action against major water users, including data centers, that have failed to comply with state water-use reporting requirements.
Abbott said Monday that some data centers could have committed civil and criminal violations by failing to provide the state with required information about their water consumption.
The governor directed the Texas Water Development Board, or TWDB, to use its enforcement authority to penalize past violations and take legal action against companies that fail to comply with future reporting requirements.
“Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water,” Abbott said. “The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey.”
What Abbott is requiring
Under the Texas Water Code, recipients of a TWDB water-use survey are required to complete and return it.
According to Abbott’s office, a data center that fails to complete and return the survey can face criminal penalties. A data center that does not timely complete and return the survey can also become ineligible for certain Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permits, amendments or renewals under Chapter 11 of the Texas Water Code.
Abbott directed TWDB to enforce those remedies against data centers that do not comply, including referring potential violations to the appropriate county or district attorney and notifying TCEQ about possible permit disqualification.
The governor said the water reporting requirements are important because TWDB uses the information to develop the state’s water plan.
“TWDB is charged with developing a state water plan that meets the needs of Texans and cannot perform that task if it is denied detailed information on existing and anticipated water consumption,” Abbott said.
Data centers face additional audit requirements
The directive comes after Abbott announced in August that the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas would conduct a comprehensive audit of data centers moving through ERCOT’s interconnection process.
That audit requires data centers to provide information about:
Water consumption
Sources of water supply
Water-efficient technologies being used
Data center projects that fail to complete the ERCOT audit must be denied interconnection, according to Abbott’s office.
Abbott is now directing TWDB to coordinate with PUCT and ERCOT and work with ERCOT to gather additional information about data centers’ water use.
If a data center fails to respond to a TWDB request for information, the agency is expected to use its independent enforcement authority.
TWDB must provide the governor’s office with an update on its enforcement efforts by Oct. 14, 2026, with additional updates to follow, including after the data center audit is completed.
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