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# Texas Orders Data Centers to File Missing Water-Use Reports
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-texas-2026-09-16-a/
- Published: 2026-09-17T00:20:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T00:20:54.000Z
- Description: Texas ordered the water board to pursue penalties against data centers that missed required water-use reports, linking compliance to permits, grid reviews and statewide resource planning.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas Water Development Board to pursue penalties against data centers and other major water users that missed mandatory water-use reports, escalating the state’s scrutiny of an industry expanding rapidly across Texas.

In a [September 14 directive](https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/TWDB%5FLetter.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com), Abbott told the board to compel compliance, refer possible offenses to county or district attorneys and notify the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality when a company may be disqualified from obtaining or renewing certain water permits. He also ordered an initial progress report to his office within 30 days.

The directive does not itself establish that any named company violated the law. It says major users, “including data centers,” appear to have failed to provide required information, leaving the water board to identify covered entities and determine enforcement steps.

## What the reporting rule requires

The [water board’s survey guidance](https://www.twdb.texas.gov/waterplanning/waterusesurvey/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says recipients must report annual water use by March 1\. The 2025 reporting cycle therefore closed March 1, 2026, although the agency still accepts late surveys by PDF. The survey supplies data for regional and statewide water planning, modeling and resource management.

Under [Section 16.012 of the Texas Water Code](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/WA/htm/WA.16.htm?ref=theamericanquorum.com#16.012), a recipient that fails to return the survey can become ineligible for state water-board financing and for certain water-right permits, amendments or renewals. Failure to complete and return the survey is also a Class C misdemeanor. Those consequences depend on the facts of each case and the actions of the responsible agencies or prosecutors.

Abbott directed the water board to coordinate with the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. His letter ties the survey enforcement to a separate August order requiring an audit of data-center projects seeking ERCOT interconnection. That audit seeks information on water consumption, supply sources and water-efficient technologies; projects that do not complete it are to be denied grid interconnection.

## What changes for operators and communities

For data-center developers, the immediate issue is documentation rather than a new consumption cap. Operators that received a survey should verify whether the 2025 form was filed completely and whether the state has requested additional information through the grid audit. Companies with pending water-right or electric-interconnection decisions face the most direct practical exposure.

For cities, utilities and residents, the order could fill gaps in estimates of industrial demand before infrastructure and drought-planning decisions are made. [The Houston Chronicle reported](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/exas-data-centers-water-reports-22431577.php?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that fewer than one-third of companies answered a separate Public Utility Commission water-use survey discussed at a June legislative hearing, illustrating why state officials say the data remains incomplete.

The next concrete checkpoint is the water board’s 30-day update. Until then, the number of delinquent facilities, any referrals and any permit consequences remain unresolved. The order creates an enforcement process; it does not announce completed penalties.