HARC warns of water supply stress for Texas data centers

The Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) released a white paper outlining the significant stress that data center expansion will place on Texas’ water resources.

Though the energy demands of these facilities have garnered mainstream attention, HARC’s paper provides estimates of how AI and data centers could impact water supplies in surrounding communities, other businesses, and existing water demand.

The report also includes broad recommendations for state and local leaders as more technology companies seek to connect to Texas’ grid and water systems. The paper warns that current state water planning creates a blind spot for this rapidly growing industry and calls for transparency and modernized forecasting to protect this resource.

Specific recommendations include: requiring better electricity and water demand data, include large water demand uses in water planning, reform groundwater regulations, incentivize or require water reuse or conservation, offset water use through other water saving activities, leverage infrastructure investment, and seek public-private solutions.

HARC is an independent, non-partisan non-profit research, policy and program implementation organization focused on sustainability solutions.