September 24, 2026 – AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has initiated a landmark, statewide investigation targeting hundreds of data center developments for failing to comply with state water use reporting requirements.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced it is cracking down on facilities that ignored mandatory water use surveys issued by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Under Texas law, entities utilizing groundwater or surface water for industrial and power purposes must submit these reports.
Key Details of the Investigation
- The Core Issue: Data centers across the state failed to respond to the TWDB water use survey, withholding critical data on consumption.
- Geographic Scope: The ongoing OAG investigation spans major metropolitan and regional counties statewide, including:
- Harris, Montgomery, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, El Paso, and Nueces
- Smith, Tom Green, Potter, Randall, Lubbock, Midland, Ector, Wichita, Victoria, and Brazos
- Primary Objective: Enforce full transparency and legal compliance to safeguard local water and energy resources.
Protecting Texas Resources
Attorney General Paxton emphasized that rapid industrial growth cannot come at the expense of local communities or vital state infrastructure.
“My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments to ensure that they are transparent about their water usage and fully compliant with the law,” said Attorney General Paxton. “It is our responsibility to steward our state’s land well, and we cannot do that if companies are blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens.”
With modern data centers demanding massive amounts of electricity and water for cooling, state officials are tightening oversight to ensure energy grids and water tables remain protected against unchecked industrial strain.
