Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Water Development Board to enforce water reporting requirements against major water users, including data centers, that appear to have committed civil and criminal violations through failure to report water usage.
The Texas Water Code requires companies receiving a TWDB water survey to complete and return it. Non-compliance is a criminal offense, and violating companies become ineligible for water permits and environmental approvals. Abbott ordered TWDB to penalize past failures and impose legal consequences for future non-compliance, including referrals to county and district attorneys.
TWDB cannot develop an accurate state water plan without detailed information on water consumption. This directive follows an August 2026 order to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers in ERCOT's interconnection queue for water consumption, supply sources, and water-efficient technologies. Data center projects that fail the audit must be denied grid interconnection.
Abbott ordered TWDB to coordinate with PUCT and ERCOT on the audit and enforce independently if data centers fail to respond. TWDB must report to Abbott's office by October 14, 2026, on enforcement progress.