Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to compel major water users, including data centers, to comply with water use reporting requirements and to impose legal consequences for past and future failure to comply with state law. Major water users, including data centers, appear to have committed civil and criminal violations through failure to provide TWDB with required information about water usage. The Governor also directed TWDB to partner with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on its audit of data centers to seek additional water use information.
“Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water,” said Governor Abbott. “The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey. I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply.”
TWDB must coordinate with the PUCT and ERCOT and partner with ERCOT to audit water consumption, sources of water supply, and implementation of water-efficient technologies. Failure to respond to that request will trigger TWDB’s independent enforcement authority. TWDB shall update the Office of the Governor by October 14, 2026, on the progress of its enforcement activities, with further updates thereafter, including when the audit is complete.
For more information, see Governor Abbott’s letter to TWDB Chairwoman L’Oreal Stepney and Executive Administrator Bryan McMath (PDF).
