As Texans face the very real prospect of a burgeoning water crisis, scientists at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) acknowledge the tidal wave of data centers invading the state is only exacerbating the state’s water woes. Earlier this year, HARC research confirmed those fears by revealing that Texas data centers could consume up to 161 billion gallons of water a year by 2030. Such an amount would represent 2.7% of yearly water use in Texas.
According to HARC's web site and news releases, this nonprofit research hub continually searches for ways to improve air quality and energy, with an emphasis on “practical solutions for the upper Texas Gulf Coast.” On January 21, 2026, HARC released a white paper entitled, Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State: The Impact of Data Center Growth on Texas’ Water Supply.
In the report, researchers concluded “that without modernized planning and policy updates, the state faces a collision between finite water supplies and one of the world’s most resource-intensive industries." Key findings from the white paper included the fact that Texas currently has 464 data center facilities statewide.
By September of 2025, the state comptroller’s office had also listed more than 70 additional sites under construction. The report showed, “existing data centers in Texas consume an estimated 25 billion gallons of water annually for electricity and cooling.”
As Texas Public Radio reports, Carlos Rubenstein, chairman of the Texas Water Foundation, says groundwater depletion alone tells a dire story. “We continue, pretty much throughout the state, to continue to mine groundwater in excess of recharge. So collectively, we know that 50 years from now, all things being equal, even with our growth, we're going to have about 18% less water in Texas than we do today. And that's why it's critical that our planning be as robust as possible and as honest as it can be.”
Researchers Find Data Centers Exacerbating Texas' Looming Water Crisis
