Texas is #1 in a Losing Game of Data Center Growth
The rapid, large-scale data center boom in Texas threatens our already stressed water supply, strained energy grid, and the surrounding communities. Texas is rapidly emerging as one of the largest and fastest-growing data center markets in the United States, driven by energy availability, statewide tax breaks, a privitized power grid, and abundant land. 2025 reports show a total of 484 data centers in Texas, 297 operational, 109 under construction, and 124 planned. AI data centers are among the most resource-intensive industries threatening our region. AI data center infrastructure places exhaustive demands on our already strained water supply and electricity grid, while also contributing to failing air quality, rising temperatures, and loss of local biodiversity.
We need to hold the line against the data center drain now. The City of Austin is proposing a resolution to define and “regulate” data center development, including zoning and utility requirements. After the recent Dog’s Head debacle including $2.2B in tax subsidies for tech billionaires, Austin cannot stomach more vague promises from city leaders. Tell Austin Council and city staff that Austin should follow San Marcos' lead and use its land-use authority to keep data centers out of our city. Tell them to place a moratorium on new data centers, as recommended by the Austin Environmental Commission and give clear direction for REAL protections against data centers in Austin. City staff suggested that we have until December 2026 to define "large-scale" data centers, and we need your voice to ensure these rules keep Austin's resources safe and eliminate loopholes.
Why Data Centers Are a Bad Fit in Central Texas
- Drought Contradiction: Approving new, water-guzzling industrial users during a declared drought undermines emergency conservation orders and shortens the lifespan of our limited supply. A single large data center can use millions of gallons of water per day for cooling
- Threaten Spring-flows: Excessive pumping during drought directly threatens the springs in Central Texas, home to endangered species found nowhere else on Earth, beloved swimming and recreation areas in Central Texas, and drinking water for millions of people
- Contamination: Chemicals (like PFAs), coolants, and large paved areas increase the risk of polluted runoff into our vulnerable creeks, streams, rivers, and aquifers
- No Rules Exist: There is no comprehensive state or federal regulation for data center water use in Texas. We are seeing a dangerous number of developers come in to take advantage of this vulnerable early state that lacks REAL protections
- Higher Bills: Utility costs rise for residents to subsidize the massive water and electricity demand of these facilities. Over the past five years, areas with new data centers have seen a 267% increase in electrical bills
- A Bad Deal: They create very few local jobs while locking the city into long-term water and energy commitments
- Communities Suffer: 24/7 operations lead to constant noise and light pollution for nearby residents
Recent Wins Aginst Data Center in Central Texas
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1. The Mayberry Uprising
When the Mayberry data center sought rezoning in San Marcos, Save Our Springs joined with our partners at the Data Center Action Coalition to help residents speak up for their community. Together, that people-powered effort defeated the requested rezoning twice—first by breaking the supermajority threshold with two “no” votes, and then with a 5–2 City Council majority against the proposal. It was a powerful reminder of what organized neighbors can accomplish when they show up. A nearby landowner later reconsidered and decided not to pursue a separate-proposed data center. |
2. San Marcos Code Update
Following the Mayberry win, Save Our Springs worked with San Marcos Council Members and community advocates on revisions to the San Marcos development code to strengthen the city’s regulations and remove large-scale data centers as a by-right use from applicable zoning categories. SOS continues to collaborate with other communities to recommend policy changes that protect residents and local air and water.
Following the Mayberry win, Save Our Springs worked with San Marcos Council Members and community advocates on revisions to the San Marcos development code to strengthen the city’s regulations and remove large-scale data centers as a by-right use from applicable zoning categories. SOS continues to collaborate with other communities to recommend policy changes that protect residents and local air and water.
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2. Austin Data Center Policies
Save Our Springs is working with Austin city leaders and community members to strengthen the city’s data center regulations and better protect Austin’s water, energy, and natural resources. We were encouraged to see the Austin Environmental Commission advance strong recommendations on April 1, 2026, and we are hopeful that the Austin Joint Sustainability Committee will do the same this month. The Austin Water Forward Task Force has also moved forward recommendations to address high-volume water users, including large-scale data centers. SOS will keep pushing the Austin City Council to adopt the strongest possible protections for Austin’s future. |
The Colorado River is currently threatened by potential data center builds within the "Dog's Head development" 2600 mile area
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SOS Fights Back
On July 20, 2026, the Save Our Springs Alliance filed suit on behalf of the Data Center Action Coalition and several landowners against the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court for approving tax abatement and development agreements for two large-scale data centers–Palomino Alpha and Cloudburst. The lawsuit is centered on several violations of the Texas Open Meetings, Texas Tax Code, and state conflict-of-interest laws. Records obtained through public information requests revealed that the Court met with the applicants of these data centers to negotiate the terms of these agreements in private, and Judge Kyle Kuschner who is selling land to Palomino Alpha participated in some of these conversations that led to the tax abatements affecting his own land. We need your help supporting this case. Give today and share with your networks.
On July 20, 2026, the Save Our Springs Alliance filed suit on behalf of the Data Center Action Coalition and several landowners against the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court for approving tax abatement and development agreements for two large-scale data centers–Palomino Alpha and Cloudburst. The lawsuit is centered on several violations of the Texas Open Meetings, Texas Tax Code, and state conflict-of-interest laws. Records obtained through public information requests revealed that the Court met with the applicants of these data centers to negotiate the terms of these agreements in private, and Judge Kyle Kuschner who is selling land to Palomino Alpha participated in some of these conversations that led to the tax abatements affecting his own land. We need your help supporting this case. Give today and share with your networks.
A Deeper Look: SOS on Data Centers in Central Texas
1. Save Every Drop of Water.
Austin and the broader State of Texas were already facing a serious water shortage before the rapid proliferation of data centers. Drought and rapid population growth mean that much of Texas’ water is already spoken for. The 2022 State Water Plan estimated a 1.6 trillion-gallon water shortage by 2030, growing to 2.3 trillion gallons by 2070. Those numbers do not include the new demand from data centers. According to the Houston Advanced Research Center, Texas data centers already use about 25 billion gallons of water each year for electricity generation and cooling. By 2030, that demand could rise to between 29 billion and 161 billion gallons per year—up to 2.7% of total statewide water use. Because the State Water Plan does not yet account for future data center growth, cities like Austin must act now to protect their long-term water supply.
2. Size Matters; So Does Quantity.
Austin’s existing data centers (estimated at 53) are much smaller than the facilities now being proposed. But the issue is not just the size of one data center. It is the combined impact of many data centers using water and electricity in a region that is extremely vulnerable to drought. Data centers are difficult to curtail during drought conditions because they need to run continuously. Given Austin’s water challenges, Austin is simply not a good location for large-scale data center growth, whether that means one very large facility or many smaller ones whose demands add up over time. The resolution lays out a dangerous path for Austin to follow; one that would be difficult to reverse. A moratorium or a ban, with additional study would be a safer, more prudent approach.
2. Fight Rising Energy Demands and Rates.
Texas data centers already require about 9,567 megawatts of electricity, and ERCOT forecasts that demand could reach 22,175 to 77,965 megawatts by 2030. As of mid-2026, large users totaling more than 438,000 MW of proposed demand had entered ERCOT’s connection queue, and nearly 90% of those requests were from data centers. That proposed demand is more than five times ERCOT’s all-time peak demand record of 85,508 MW, set on August 10, 2023. For Austin, this means large-scale data centers would add enormous new electricity demand to a grid that is already under pressure. If Austin allows more large data centers, residents will be asked to absorb the costs associated with more strain on local substations and transmission lines, greater reliability risks during extreme heat, more reliance on fossil fuels, increasing energy rates, and higher costs for energy generation and grid upgrades that mainly serve private data center operators. The cost of serving massive new data center loads will not stay with the data centers alone; it will show up in higher electric bills for Austin residents and small businesses.
3. Protect Austin’s Lungs.
Data centers create serious health risks when they rely on on-site power plants or backup generators. These power plants and generators release fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants that worsen local air quality. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) is especially dangerous because the particles are small enough to travel deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of asthma attacks, respiratory illness, heart disease, and other serious health problems. More data centers means more local pollution sources near homes, schools, and neighborhoods. And who tends to suffer from these decisions? Environmental justice populations who are more likely to live near industrial zoning.
4. Protect Agricultural Lands.
The Austin/Travis County Food Plan calls for expanding community food production, preserving agricultural lands, and increasing the amount of farmland dedicated to regenerative food production over the long term. Very little of Travis County’s food is produced locally, while farmland is being lost every day to development pressure. Data centers move Austin in the opposite direction, replacing farms with data centers. Across Texas, the data center industry is competing for large tracts of rural and agricultural land, driving up land prices and converting land that could otherwise support farms, ranches, food security, aquifer recharge, and climate resilience. Austin should not support an industry that accelerates the loss of agricultural land when the City’s plans call for preserving it for local food production.
DON’T SACRIFICE AUSTIN FOR DATA CENTERS!!!
Austin should not be sacrificed for an industry that consumes enormous amounts of water, strains the grid, raises energy costs, worsens air pollution, and threatens the agricultural land we need for local food resilience. The Council should not settle for weak regulation that opens the door to more data center development and leaves residents to deal with the consequences. Write City Council, staff, and the City Manager to bring forward a ban or, at minimum, a moratorium on new large-scale data centers in Austin. This is the moment to draw a clear line. Austin’s water, air, land, and affordability must come before the demands of the data center industry.
Austin and the broader State of Texas were already facing a serious water shortage before the rapid proliferation of data centers. Drought and rapid population growth mean that much of Texas’ water is already spoken for. The 2022 State Water Plan estimated a 1.6 trillion-gallon water shortage by 2030, growing to 2.3 trillion gallons by 2070. Those numbers do not include the new demand from data centers. According to the Houston Advanced Research Center, Texas data centers already use about 25 billion gallons of water each year for electricity generation and cooling. By 2030, that demand could rise to between 29 billion and 161 billion gallons per year—up to 2.7% of total statewide water use. Because the State Water Plan does not yet account for future data center growth, cities like Austin must act now to protect their long-term water supply.
2. Size Matters; So Does Quantity.
Austin’s existing data centers (estimated at 53) are much smaller than the facilities now being proposed. But the issue is not just the size of one data center. It is the combined impact of many data centers using water and electricity in a region that is extremely vulnerable to drought. Data centers are difficult to curtail during drought conditions because they need to run continuously. Given Austin’s water challenges, Austin is simply not a good location for large-scale data center growth, whether that means one very large facility or many smaller ones whose demands add up over time. The resolution lays out a dangerous path for Austin to follow; one that would be difficult to reverse. A moratorium or a ban, with additional study would be a safer, more prudent approach.
2. Fight Rising Energy Demands and Rates.
Texas data centers already require about 9,567 megawatts of electricity, and ERCOT forecasts that demand could reach 22,175 to 77,965 megawatts by 2030. As of mid-2026, large users totaling more than 438,000 MW of proposed demand had entered ERCOT’s connection queue, and nearly 90% of those requests were from data centers. That proposed demand is more than five times ERCOT’s all-time peak demand record of 85,508 MW, set on August 10, 2023. For Austin, this means large-scale data centers would add enormous new electricity demand to a grid that is already under pressure. If Austin allows more large data centers, residents will be asked to absorb the costs associated with more strain on local substations and transmission lines, greater reliability risks during extreme heat, more reliance on fossil fuels, increasing energy rates, and higher costs for energy generation and grid upgrades that mainly serve private data center operators. The cost of serving massive new data center loads will not stay with the data centers alone; it will show up in higher electric bills for Austin residents and small businesses.
3. Protect Austin’s Lungs.
Data centers create serious health risks when they rely on on-site power plants or backup generators. These power plants and generators release fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants that worsen local air quality. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) is especially dangerous because the particles are small enough to travel deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of asthma attacks, respiratory illness, heart disease, and other serious health problems. More data centers means more local pollution sources near homes, schools, and neighborhoods. And who tends to suffer from these decisions? Environmental justice populations who are more likely to live near industrial zoning.
4. Protect Agricultural Lands.
The Austin/Travis County Food Plan calls for expanding community food production, preserving agricultural lands, and increasing the amount of farmland dedicated to regenerative food production over the long term. Very little of Travis County’s food is produced locally, while farmland is being lost every day to development pressure. Data centers move Austin in the opposite direction, replacing farms with data centers. Across Texas, the data center industry is competing for large tracts of rural and agricultural land, driving up land prices and converting land that could otherwise support farms, ranches, food security, aquifer recharge, and climate resilience. Austin should not support an industry that accelerates the loss of agricultural land when the City’s plans call for preserving it for local food production.
DON’T SACRIFICE AUSTIN FOR DATA CENTERS!!!
Austin should not be sacrificed for an industry that consumes enormous amounts of water, strains the grid, raises energy costs, worsens air pollution, and threatens the agricultural land we need for local food resilience. The Council should not settle for weak regulation that opens the door to more data center development and leaves residents to deal with the consequences. Write City Council, staff, and the City Manager to bring forward a ban or, at minimum, a moratorium on new large-scale data centers in Austin. This is the moment to draw a clear line. Austin’s water, air, land, and affordability must come before the demands of the data center industry.
Stop the drain on Texas water, air, land and communities. The proliferation of data centers in Central Texas represents a direct threat to our water security during a historic drought. Your informed and sustained action is the only effective counter to the lack of policies and informed leaders in place. To stay current with decisive meetings, legal developments, and strategic actions, follow @data.center.action.coalition and @saveoursprings on Instagram.
Thank you for joining the fight and inspiring others!
Thank you for joining the fight and inspiring others!
