San Marcos data center proposals spark resident and county resistance

Texas ranks #2 in data center growth, but water scarcity is moving county officials to call for severe drought restrictions.

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Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra held a press conference at the Meadows Center for Water and Environment on Monday, Feb. 16 outlining a proposed moratorium for industrial development with high volume water demands. This comes before the San Marcos City Council will be voting Tuesday on zoning amendments for a near 200-acre data center on Francis Harris Lane. With the city expected to have a substantial increase in residents by 2075 and a spike in water demand, many residents have voiced opposition.

The Data Center Action Coalition, a group of local organizers, have been hosting community town halls, protests and spreading word through social media to oppose data center proposals. Their advocacy looks to preserve the area-wide water resources like the Edwards Aquifer and Canyon Lake, which rose from 48.6% to 68.3% full in August following the July 4 floods.

“As we face a severe and worsening water crisis, with our aquifer levels descending towards historic lows, we are no longer just looking at a dry spell. We are looking at a potential catastrophe,” Becerra said.

The aim of the moratorium is to temporarily pause industrial development permits that are requiring 25,000 gallons per day (gpd) of water usage. The application for zoning amendments on behalf of Highlander SM One, LLC– also known as property owner John Maberry–will be acquiring water from Crystal Clear Special Utility District and electricity from Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Highlander agreed to enter a restrictive covenant capping water usage at 75,000 (gpd), limited to a 70 decibel noise level and must reduce stormwater runoff to 10%. Company leaders also claim the development will bring a great amount of tax revenue to the city and create economic stability by opening up opportunities for jobs. Many residents believe the health and financial impacts of the development outweigh the benefits.

Mary Littlefield-Devine lives behind the proposed site of the data center on York Creek Road.

She’s concerned about PFAS, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or “forever chemicals” possibly leaking from the industrial water-resistant servers.

“Particles emitted from the data centers can settle deep into the lungs of those in the vicinity,” Devine.

“So to have our cardiac and respiratory health compromised by a data center that's bringing profit only to outsiders, people who don't live and work in this community, is completely wrong.”

Mario Jimenez, a nearby resident of Francis Harris Lane, is concerned about his livestock and drought conditions.

“I grew up here and being surrounded by a bunch of giant data centers that are, using water, using energy, producing heat while we're already in the middle of a drought, it is a concern,” Jimenez said.

While the 2022 State Water Plan focuses on desalination to restore water demand across Texas, it most likely won’t be enough to withstand the rapid growth of AI data centers and enterprise data centers.

Robert Mace, executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and Environment, says closed-loop water systems, which continuously recirculates water for computer server cooling, are supposed to conserve more water than an open-loop cooling system, which draws from a natural water source. However, generating power can create differing variations of water demands. Maberry stated at the first presentation to city council on Aug. 19, 2025, that the development would use a closed-loop system.

“A lot of times power generation does involve steam and does involve cooling,” he said.

“And so that can double the use of water, or basically the use of water for energy development can equal the amount of water used for open loop cooling.”

Mace says Texas could be looking to import water from neighboring states, but warns that Texas could find regulatory hurdles along the way. Specifically toward the Toledo-Bend reservoir Texas shares with Louisiana.

Along with the “Maberry” data center, the CloudBurst AI Data Center broke ground in November on Francis Harris Lane and Sabey Data Centers started negotiations with city council at the June 3, 2025 regular meeting.

Judge Becerra is now urging all area water providers to enter Stage 4 drought restrictions and is proposing to create a county-wide task force to gauge what the current and future water usage will be for residents. He will present the moratorium to the Hays County Commissioner’s Court at their next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 24.