Paxton Tells 156 Texas Data Center Developments to Report Their Water Use

Attorney General Ken Paxton has sent letters to 156 data center developments in 32 Texas counties telling them they must provide “up-to-date and accurate information regarding water usage,” his office announced Thursday. The letters are the first public step in the investigation he opened on September 24 into developments that had not answered the Texas Water Development Board’s water-use survey.

“Data center developers must follow the law and respect the Texans and communities affected by their operations,” Paxton said. “I am actively investigating data centers across Texas to make sure that Texans and our natural resources are protected.”

Where the letters went

When he opened the investigation last month, Paxton named 18 counties where data centers were under initial investigation. Thursday’s list runs to 32: Bexar, Brazos, Cameron, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ector, El Paso, Glasscock, Harris, Hidalgo, Hood, Lubbock, Maverick, McLennan, Midland, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Nueces, Pecos, Potter, Randall, Sherman, Tarrant, Tom Green, Travis, Victoria, Waller, Ward, Webb, Wichita and Williamson. The office did not name the companies or say how many letters went to each county.

The survey behind it

The water board’s survey is required by Section 16.012 of the Texas Water Code. Anyone who does not file “is not eligible for funding from the board for board programs and is ineligible to obtain permits, permit amendments, or permit renewals” from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and “commits an offense that is punishable as a Class C misdemeanor.”

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the board on September 14 to “penalize past failures” and to report to him on its enforcement by October 14. The Texas Tribune reported on October 14 that the board had identified 334 data center facilities from 2020 to 2025 and that 233 of them never submitted a survey. As of Friday morning, neither the board nor the governor’s office had made that report public.

The water under those data centers is Texas water, and the law that governs it was written in Austin. Paxton’s letters are the first public step toward enforcing it.