July 24, 2026 -- For 12 hours, we watched Austin City Council debate the future of the Dog's Head. In the end, the majority voted in favor of the TIRZ, but what I'll remember most isn't the vote, it's the PEOPLE THAT SHOWED UP. THANK YOU AUSTIN FOR DEFENDING DOG's HEAD!

Neighbors from every corner of Austin showed up with courage, passion, and deep love for our fair city city. SOS, GAVA, PODER, PSL Austin, and so many community members spoke truth to power. Even after the agenda was pushed to the end of the night, people refused to give up.

A huge thank you to the incredible Save Our Springs legal team, who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and a special shout-out to SOS staff attorney Beatrice Anderson for leading the charge on the Dog's Head advocacy campaign, from legal strategy to community organizing.

We may have lost the vote, but we flipped 3 votes, built a strong record for future action, and shined a light on a process that can no longer be ignored.

This is the foundation of an even stronger movement ahead.

Join Us for the Data Center Week of Action

Are you concerned about data centers but unsure how to get involved?
Join us, along with Alliance for a Clean Texas and Public Citizen, next week for the Data Center Week of Action! 
The Data Center Week of Action runs from July 26th through July 31st, and you can RSVP and learn more HERE.

Each day next week there is a planned webinar to help you learn more about data centers and a specific action that you can take to oppose proposed data centers in Texas. Through a combination of policy briefings, training, and targeted actions, you will learn how to confidently participate in pushing back against data centers to effectively advocate for our shared water and environmental resources. The skills training on Thursday, July 30th will  include a presentation from our Staff Attorney Victoria Rose on how to fight wastewater permits associated with data centers.

The first in-person meetup is a rally on the Texas Capital south steps at 9 AM prior to the Senate Finance Committee at 10:30 AM. We are raising our voices to tell Governor Abbott to call a special session and consider a moratorium on data center construction in Texas. 
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Together, we can gain the skills and join forces to protect our communities. 

Data Center Lawsuit Filed in Guadalupe County

This past Monday SOS Senior Attorney Bobby Levinski filed a lawsuit in Guadalupe County on behalf of affected residents claiming that the county approved tax abatements and related development agreements for the Cloudburst and Palomino Alpha data centers in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Tax Code, and state conflicts-of-interest laws. The lawsuit challenges an estimated $150 million in county property tax-subsidies that would fuel the data centers’ pursuit to turn more than 1,700 acres of rural Guadalupe County into AI data centers spanning more than 4 million square feet and harming local residents through impacts to quality of life, local heat effects, heavy water use, and wastewater discharges.

Records show that Guadalupe County’s Judge Kutscher and his family own 186 acres being sold to the Palomino Alpha data center while at the same time Judge Kutscher voted on policy changes to help clear the way for tax incentives for the data center and brought a Palomino Alpha representative into executive session to discuss the project terms. In addition to other violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Guadalupe County obscured plans and decisions related to data centers from the public by omitting key details such as project locations, acreage, subsidy amounts, and others in public meeting notices.

Ultimately, county officials cannot ask taxpayers to subsidize massive data centers while keeping residents in the dark, and public decisions of this scale should be made in the open, not buried in vague agendas or negotiated behind closed doors. Accordingly, this lawsuit asks the court to intervene to stop Guadalupe County from using or enforcing the challenged approvals and to prevent public money from being spent under illegal agreements.

Please join us in our efforts by donating to SOS today to help fund our legal team’s work on this lawsuit and to protect our water and land from the growing threat of data centers.

It's clear from our work in San Marcos that the fight against unchecked data center growth and AI-driven development begins with everyday citizens. Thank you for showing up to learn and fight back with us. Your particpation is critical to this movement. 
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See you at the Capital Monday morning at 9 AM!

 SOS Alliance 

Travis County Declines to Approve Dog's Head Subsidies; 
Show Up for the Colorado River Thursday, July 23rdAt the Tuesday, July 14 meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, dozens of concerned residents and environmental leaders spoke out against the request for Travis County to invest half-a-billion in tax dollars (in addition to $1.7 billion from the City) to support infrastructure for the proposed Dog’s Head development. After approximately two hours of public testimony, the Commissioners Court unanimously decided to not take any action. This means the City of Austin now must figure out how they’ll proceed without the County’s participation. 

Throughout the discussion, the Commissioners made clear that the proposal lacked the detail, assurances, and enforceable public benefits needed to justify the extraordinary request for public support. Commissioners pressed for specifics about what would actually be built, what affordability commitments would be guaranteed, how environmental impacts and flooding concerns would be addressed, and how nearby communities would have a meaningful voice.
Yet again, neither the developer nor the City of Austin representative sent to lobby for its passage had meaningful answers. 


Another troubling aspect of the discussion was the City’s characterization of the rushed approval of the development agreement as “alternative compliance” to the environmental regulations that are necessary to protect the river. Such bogus framing of the sweetheart deal given to Endeavor Real Estate Group ignores reduced critical water quality zone setbacks, massive amounts of impervious cover being allowed, and provisions that allow for administrative waivers without any public process. 
The Dog's Head property includes roughly seven miles of Colorado River frontage, much of which would no longer be subject to Austin's standard environmental protections under the proposed development agreement. The conceptual transportation plan also includes at least three new road bridges over the Colorado River, including one that would connect directly to Tesla Road, providing access to Tesla's Gigafactory directly across the river. Our taxpayers and our river deserve better. 

 Mark Your Calendars and SHOW UP!
As we saw at Tuesday's meeting, a large community outcry is the only way to stop or slow this development - and we need your voice now more than ever.

Community Forum: Defend Dog's Head
WHAT: The program includes a brief overview of the development, as well as large-group and small-group Q&As & discuss how we as a community can work together to fight the Dog's Head development. 
WHEN: Sunday, July 19th, 4 - 6 PM
WHERE: HOPE Outdoor Gallery | 741 Dalton Ln, Austin, TX 78742
SHOW UP: Please RSVP here to join   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTN9OLD7C7gx8msorJuuwjJ96HK5lbEb7-2rXjpP2W13fByg/viewform


Austin City Council Meeting, Thursday July 23rd
WHAT: Dog’s Head developer is asking the County for an 80% tax break until 2061, equating to an estimated $1.6 billion in public subsidies
WHEN: Thursday, July 23, 2026: Austin City Council, meeting starts at 10 AM
WHERE:  301 W. 2nd Street, Austin, Texas 78701 (Austin City Hall)
SHOW UP: Instructions for how to register to speak VIRTUALLY or IN PERSON on Items 13, 14, and 111 (speaker sign up opens at  10 AM the Monday, July ) https://www.austintexas.gov/services/participate-city-council-meeting.
We hope to see you there, putting your civic power to good use. If you are interested in getting more involved, please reach out! There are additional opportunities to engage our City and County officials and organize against this proposal. Read more about the development and why it's bad for Austin.

The proposed White Rocks development sits along State Highway 71, uphill of Barton Creek and surrounded on several sides by the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. But this sensitive location hasn’t stopped the developer from proposing a high density development that includes a 10,000 seat amphitheater. Without your support, the golden-cheeked warblers that call the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve home can anticipate severe impacts that will stem from wastewater, stormwater, water-demand, noise pollution, light pollution, increased air pollution, and increased impervious cover. 
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The developer plans to irrigate 120,000 gallons per day of treated sewage on 27.43 acres of disposal fields within the development. But the disposal fields have steep slopes, with grades in excess of 10% in some places, and thin soils that make it almost inevitable that the Barton Creek watershed will be polluted if the wastewater permit is approved. Watch the CBS Austin recent report on White Rocks here. 

SOS is working hard to fight this proposal and protect water quality by opposing the wastewater permit for the development. On Wednesday, July 15th, the TCEQ Commissioners voted to grant SOS a contested case hearing to challenge the wastewater permit on several issues. This decision starts a process that will require lots of work from our legal team and the help of expert witnesses.

Look out for updates from us as the contested case hearing process moves forward and please consider donating to help us fund this fight. ​

July 23rd is an important day for Central Texas. If you’re able, we hope you’ll join us at City Council to share your concerns about the Dog’s Head tax giveaway, and later in Seguin at Crystal Clear SUD to help protect our shared water future from data centers. Your voice could have impact far beyond 2026. 
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Standing together for Central Texas water,
 SOS Alliance