The Public Utility Commission of Texas shared on February 6 that it will require data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities to report direct water usage, each site’s cooling technologies, and which power plants provide these businesses with electricity (information that will offer insight into their indirect water needs).
Texas regulators this spring will review data centers on water usage, which is estimated to grow to nearly 3 percent of the state's total use by 2030. The Texas House of Representatives’ Committee on Groundwater Management and Conservation held a seven-hour hearing on February 10 on the state's aquifer and groundwater resources.
Robert E. Mace, Ph.D., PG, of Texas State University, a past NGWA Scientists and Engineers Section Board Director who presented on managed aquifer recharge in 2023, took part in the hearing and said that 95 percent of the groundwater districts estimate that their future water needs are unsustainable based on today’s use and conditions. The Texas legislature won’t meet to create new laws until the beginning of 2027.
Texas and California trail Virginia, which has the most data centers in the country. California and Virginia don’t track data center water usage despite active legislation.
NGWA is underscoring the critical role groundwater professionals play in helping communities and companies manage water resources responsibly as data centers continue to expand across the United States with the Association’s monthly trade magazine, Water Well Journal, recently concluding a three-part series on the subject.
In the final installment and the cover story of the WWJ March 2026 issue, the article peers closer at the three different types of geothermal systems identified in Part 1 (conventional closed-loop geothermal systems, pump and injection systems, and submerged closed-loop heat exchangers) that can be the solution for data center cooling. The article reviews the three types of geothermal systems and drilling methods needed to install them and the current and future market dynamics water demands. Click here to read it.