Little Elm, Texas — State legal authorities have launched a formal regulatory investigation into hundreds of commercial data centers across Texas to determine whether the facilities are complying with mandatory resource accounting mandates. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the enforcement action this week, directing the Office of the Attorney General to ensure all computing campus developments submit required documentation regarding their ground and surface water withdrawals.
Under state law, the Texas Water Development Board maintains statutory duties to poll commercial, industrial, municipal, and power-generation entities that withdraw water supplies to support state resource tracking. State officials stated that numerous data center operators have failed to submit required responses to the board's surveys, prompting state prosecutors to demand immediate compliance with reporting statutes.
"My office is currently investigating hundreds of data center developments to ensure that they are transparent about their water usage and fully compliant with the law. It is our responsibility to steward our state's land well, and we cannot do that if companies are blatantly disregarding their legal obligations to Texas and to our citizens." — Attorney General Ken Paxton
