Texas data centers could consume up to 161 billion gallons of water annually by 2030, according to a white paper released Wednesday by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC).
Existing data centers in Texas consume an estimated 25 billion gallons of water each year for electricity generation and cooling systems, and their demand on the Lone Star Stater’s valuable natural resources is only going to grow, the report cautions.
Considered the most rapidly growing data center market in the country, Texas is experiencing a boom in construction of the facilities with many more on the way.
“Texas is no stranger to industrial booms, having ridden waves of oil, gas, and manufacturing, but the data center surge presents a unique challenge that requires immediate attention,” HARC President and CEO John Hall said in an emailed statement. “Our analysis makes one fact unavoidable: When we talk about data centers, we must talk about water. We have a rare window to shape how this industry grows and how Texas prospers. We can either plan now with foresight and transparency, or we will be forced to react later with our backs to the wall.”
By 2030, data centers could potentially represent up to 2.7% of the state’s total water use.
What’s more, HARC’s white paper cites critical planning gaps as bureaucratic blind spots in addressing this new problem of the rapidly accelerating digital age.
The Texas State Water Plan, the primary tool for funding water infrastructure, relies heavily on historical data. As such, HARC argues, the plan doesn’t currently account for the future growth of data centers, leaving local communities to manage water security without adequate state-level support.
“Texas’ water planning process has a structural blind spot,” said Dr. Margaret Cook, HARC’s Vice President of Water and Community Resilience and the paper’s primary author. “ERCOT has begun developing processes to manage large load interconnections for energy, but no parallel process exists for water planning. This leaves utilities and city managers to negotiate individually with multinational technology firms, often without the data or leverage necessary to protect local resources and residents.”
In addition to adding forecasting into the State Water Plan, the white paper also recommends requiring large industrial users to report expected water and electricity use and incentivizing “water-lean” technologies such as dry cooling and brackish water reuse.
“The resource footprint of data centers is not a future challenge; it is already here,” Cook said. “By requiring transparency, incentivizing efficiency, and prioritizing alternative water supplies, Texas can accommodate the digital economy without compromising the reliability and affordability of resources for its residents.”
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