The Growing Impact of Data Centers on Texas Water Supply

A Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. Going GREEN Sustainability Lecture

As of April 2025 there are more than 400 data centers in Texas,  More than 40 additional facilities are under conGoing struction, and more are in the planning and development stages.  Data centers are notoriously power hungry; one facility can require as much energy as an entire town.  And they’re thirsty, too.  

Not only do data centers impact water demand through the amount of water they consume (electricity generation requires significant amounts of water), they require water for on-site operations, namely cooling the acres of whirring servers and processors.  In this talk, Dr. Cook examines the possible impact the projected surge of data centers could have on Texas–which already faces significant water supply challenges.

Speaker
Dr. Margaret Cook is Vice President of Water and Community Resilience. In this role, she develops and manages HARC’s Water and Community Resilience Initiative and supports community engagement and community benefits priorities within HARC projects. Her research interests include interconnections between water, energy, and climate science and policy. She is also passionate about community resilience and making science accessible to the public.

Dr. Cook earned her Doctorate in Civil Engineering, Masters degrees in Public Affairs and Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, and  Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from UT-Austin.