An aerial photo shows a QTS Data center under construction. Credit: Shutterstock / Wirestock Creators
San Antonio District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan is requesting that City Council examine the rapid growth of data centers in San Antonio and seek to limit their drain on local resources.
Galvan this week filed a Council Consideration Request (CCR), a document considered a first step for a policy discussion by the entire elected body. The request seeks a city analysis of the impacts of local data centers, particularly large-scale developments on the far West Side, which he represents.
“Data centers are vital to our digital life and economy, but their growth has far outpaced public policy,” Galvan said in a statement. “We must understand how the recent and rapid data center expansion affects our electric grid, water supply and neighborhoods — and ensure San Antonio is planning responsibly for the future.”
Data centers are already proving to be a major draw on resources at the local and state level. San Antonio data centers used 463 million gallons of water over the past two years alone, as previously reported by the Current. A report by the Houston Advanced Research Center estimates data centers statewide will guzzle 49 billion gallons of water this year.
The state currently has 400 data centers, roughly 60 located in the San Antonio region, and more are on the way. Indeed, the corridor between Austin and San Antonio is considered the nation’s hottest data center market, and its growth is rapidly outpacing that of more established areas, according to a report by consulting firm Kearney.
The $276.9 million, 432,800-square-foot Vantage Data Center is one such project on San Antonio’s far West Side, MySA reports, though details of its development are shrouded in mystery. Microsoft has also bought huge swaths of land straddling Bexar and Medina counties for data center development.
Though data centers currently account for a small percentage of the state’s total water usage, the Houston Center for Advanced Research projects that by 2030 the facilities will use as much water as 1.3 million average U.S. households.
“Our city cannot afford to wait until resource demands outpace our infrastructure,” Galvan continued. “As the councilmember of the district with the largest number of data centers, my residents have expressed firsthand feedback on data center growth that deserves conversation at City Hall about proactive planning — not just for District 6 residents but for all of San Antonio.”
Galvan’s proposal calls for the City Council Governance Committee to review and discuss the scope of the city’s authority in regulating data centers through zoning, permitting and development codes.
The item also requests an analysis of the resource intensity of San Antonio’s current and planned data centers, including water and power consumption.
One of the determining factors of a data center’s power and water usage is its size. Midsized data centers use approximately 300,000 gallons daily while large data centers can consume as many as 4.5 million gallons, according to an investigative report by the Austin Chronicle.
Another factor in a data center’s water and power usage is the method by which it cools its computer towers. Some facilities utilize air conditioners, vents and cool outdoor air, if available, while other frequently used methods use water.
Air-cooling methods tend to consume more power whereas water-cooling methods tend to be more energy-efficient but drain more water. In an area grappling with long-term drought, this is an issue, Galvan said.
Among the water-cooling methods available, sustainability breaks down further based on where the water is coming from and what percentage is potable water versus treated waste water. Data centers typically use some combination of potable and recycled water. However, many treat their cooling methods as proprietary information, so details can be hard to obtain.
How the water is used also matters. Some data centers use a closed-loop cooling system, by which water can be reused several times. Evaporative cooling, on the other hand, is the method with the most water waste, according to the Environmental Law Institute, since the evaporated water isn’t available for reuse.
Galvan’s policy item also requests that council look at state and local regulatory frameworks guiding data center operations, including examples of how other cities are responding.
Residents of Tucson recently pressured its city council to block a planned center over concerns about resource strains. However, that project is progressing despite the outcry, according to AZPM, a Tucson NPR and PBS affiliate.
Part of the issue, as Galvan noted in his statement, is that policy hasn’t kept pace with the rapid expansion of the burgeoning industry.
To point, during its regular session this spring, the Texas Legislature passed no legislation reining in water usage by data centers. The only bill relating to data center resource drain deals with energy curtailment during major weather events.
As is common with rapidly advancing frontiers of the digital landscape, regulation is slow on the uptake, making for a Wild West of unfettered opportunity for tech giants.
Galvan’s policy proposal requests the city look into possible amendments to the Unified Development Code to establish special-use requirements for data centers. Those could include addressing issues such as water and energy consumption, noise and impervious cover, or development that prevents rainwater from soaking into the ground, which is monitored as a flood-mitigation factor.
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