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If we don’t have plans for how much water is going to be used, we won’t be planning for how much water infrastructure [is needed] to supply those needs. What will happen is communities will still make deals with data centers knowing that the water they’re giving to them is meant for population growth. And that is a gamble.
—Margaret Cook, vice president of water and community resilience, Houston Advanced Research Center

Once again, we didn’t know what was happening. When we did find out, I think a lot of people became very concerned because we saw reports of how much water was being used elsewhere for these facilities.
—Christopher Collins, Texas Monthly contributor

Texas has emerged as a frontrunner in President Trump’s push for U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence and is poised to become the nation’s top data center market. With data centers rapidly scaling across Texas, the state is emerging as a bellwether for the nation—highlighting how rapid, resource intensive AI-driven growth can outpace infrastructure planning and strain limited resources.

In this second episode of our series on how present choices in water, energy and growth will shape the future in Texas, host Duke Reiter is joined by water policy expert Dr. Margaret Cook of the Houston Advanced Research Center and Texas Monthly contributor Christopher Collins to explore:

  • how unregulated competition between industries and communities over constrained resources can go wrong
  • why state-level water policy may struggle to keep pace with rapid industry changes
  • how energy and water demands are conjoined in data infrastructure
  • how state and local legislators can support transparency in data center development

Relevant Articles and Resources

“A Conservative Cowboy Town Embraces the AI Revolution” (Texas Monthly, February 2026)

“Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State: The Impact of Data Center Growth on Texas’ Water Supply” (Houston Advanced Research Center, January 2026)

“How Americans view data centers’ impact in key areas, from the environment to jobs” (Pew Research Center, March 2026)

“Texas regulators will ask data centers to being reporting their water usage” (KXAN, March 2026)

“Texans are demanding their local governments push pause on data centers. Can they?” (KWTX, February 2026)

“Questions about electricity, water use swirl Stargate data center in Abilene” (Abilene Reporter News, October 2025)

Relevant Ten Across Conversations Podcasts

Part One: Can Texas Drought-Proof Its Economic Miracle?

AI Series: Balancing AI Infrastructure Resource Demands

Credits

Host: Duke Reiter
Writer and producer: Taylor Griffith
Editor: Kate Carefoot
Research and support provided by: Rae Ulrich, Kelly Saunders, Maya Chari, and Sabine Butler

Guest Speakers

Christopher Collins is a freelance writer, editor, and Texas Monthly contributor based in Abilene, Texas.

Margaret Cook is vice president of water and community resilience at the Houston Advanced Research Center and the author of a new white paper entitled, “Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State: The Impact of Data Center Growth on Texas’ Water Supply”. With a doctorate in civil engineering, a masters in environmental and water resources engineering, and a bachelors in civil engineering, she is among the first in the state of Texas to quantify and recommend legislation for addressing current and projected data center water demands.