Texas Water Board’s Data Center Deadline Arrives With No Public Report

The Texas Water Development Board’s deadline to report to Gov. Greg Abbott on its crackdown on data centers that skip the state’s water-use survey arrived Wednesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, neither the board nor the governor’s office had made the report public.

Abbott set the date on September 14. “TWDB shall update the Office of the Governor by October 14, 2026, on the progress of its enforcement activities, with further updates thereafter,” his directive said. He told the board to “penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply,” to refer violators to “the appropriate County or District Attorney,” and to notify the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality “for possible permit disqualification.”

What the law allows

The survey requirement is in Section 16.012 of the Texas Water Code, which covers water used for “municipal, industrial, power generation, or mining purposes.” The same subsection sets three consequences for anyone who does not file. A non-filer “is not eligible for funding from the board for board programs and is ineligible to obtain permits, permit amendments, or permit renewals” from the commission, and “commits an offense that is punishable as a Class C misdemeanor.” Under the Texas Penal Code, a Class C misdemeanor carries a fine of up to $500.

The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday that the board identified 334 data center facilities from 2020 to 2025 and that 233 of them never submitted a survey. The Tribune also reported that the board describes itself as a non-regulatory agency with no power to prosecute.

A second inquiry

Attorney General Ken Paxton opened his own investigation on September 24 into data center developments that had not answered the survey, listing 18 counties where data centers are under initial investigation, from Harris and Dallas to Lubbock and El Paso. “My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments,” Paxton said. His office has announced no further step.

The tools the board needs are already in Texas law, written by the Texas Legislature. What the board has done with them is the part Texans have not yet been told.