In the Big Bend, water has always been counted carefully. Ranchers know the depth of every well. Towns plan around aquifers that refill slowly, if at all. That is why the arrival of artificial intelligence data centers in our region should worry anyone who loves this desert and why we need clear rules before any deal is signed.
The proposals are no longer distant. Last year, the energy company Open Origin explored an 80,000-acre data center campus southeast of Marfa, on the MacGuire and Antelope Springs ranches. Reports at the time said it could pump up to 800 acre-feet of groundwater a year, more than the entire city of Marfa uses today. Residents also raised concerns about housing, roads and the dark skies that define this place. Local officials now say communication with that developer has lapsed. But the idea has not gone away.
In June, two investors asked the Presidio Municipal Development District about building a data center complex in the city’s industrial zone. And on September 30, Pacifico Energy, the company building a gas-fired power plant and data center campus for Amazon in Pecos County, met with Brewster County officials about a similar project on a ranch northeast of Alpine. County Judge Greg Henington said the county would be extremely sensitive to water use. He is right to be.
These facilities run thousands of servers that produce enormous heat. Many cool them by evaporating water, which never returns to the aquifer. Others switch to air cooling, which uses more electricity, often from new gas plants. Either way, the desert pays a price. And the promises that come with these projects deserve scrutiny. When the Marfa proposal surfaced, local officials heard talk of 900 to 1,100 jobs. In other places, including Querétaro, Mexico, communities have watched similar promises shrink once construction ended.
I understand the temptation. Our counties have tight budgets, and a large investment looks like a lifeline. But water is not a budget line. Once an aquifer is drawn down, no tax revenue can refill it.
The state has finally noticed. In August, Gov. Greg Abbott froze new data center connections to the power grid. In September, he ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing permits until audits of energy and water use are complete. Those are welcome steps, but they rest on executive directives, not law. The next governor could undo them with a signature.
The weakness is clearest on water. Texas requires large users to answer an annual water-use survey, yet only about 28% of data centers responded. The penalty for ignoring it is a maximum fine of $500, nothing for companies worth billions. If the state cannot even count how much water these facilities use, small counties like ours cannot be expected to protect themselves alone.
We are not alone in our concern. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll released in August found that 57% of Texas voters oppose building a data center in their community. From the Hill Country to the Trans-Pecos, people are asking the same question: who decides how much of our water goes to the cloud?
Before any data center project moves forward in Presidio, Brewster or Jeff Davis counties, residents should insist on five things:
- Full disclosure up front. The water source, the expected daily and annual volume, and the cooling technology, made public before any land deal or tax agreement.
- A cumulative study. One project may look manageable; three or four drawing on the same aquifers may not. Local groundwater authorities should evaluate them together.
- No incentives without water limits. Any tax abatement should come with binding caps on water use and real penalties for breaking them.
- Low-water cooling as the standard. Closed-loop systems or treated wastewater, never fresh groundwater for evaporation.
- Laws, not just directives. Our legislators should turn the governor’s pause into permanent rules, with fines that companies actually feel.
The Big Bend has resisted becoming a sacrifice zone before. Its beauty, its silence and its night skies exist because generations chose to protect them. Our water deserves the same care. Technology can be built in many places. An aquifer in the Chihuahuan Desert cannot be replaced.
Cristina Díaz is a Colombian writer and researcher, a lawyer and a doctoral candidate in law specializing in water justice. She lives in Boerne, Texas, and has written poetry about the Rio Grande and the Big Bend. Lavozdelrio.co
