HAYS COUNTY, TX — Today, Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) unveiled a working group to address community concerns around data centers, water use, and the authority of cities and counties to address related challenges. In partnership with Hays County Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe and Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Morgan Hammer, she is convening elected officials, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and subject matter experts to help Hays County strategize about how to respond to data center projects. The group will study potential tools that local entities have to address the impacts of data centers and identify policy solutions to strengthen local authority on the issue.
“Our region has been experiencing drought for years, and waterways like Onion Creek and the Blanco River run dry,” said Rep. Zwiener. “Residents cut back on water use only to see rates skyrocket or wells go dry as demand increases. Now, big industrial users like data centers threaten our already scarce water resources. Something has to give, and together, this coalition will create real actionable policy solutions to protect our most precious resource.”
Across Texas, from Hays County to Hood County to El Paso, communities are struggling to keep pace with the data center industry while being hamstrung by insufficient local authority. This working group will center local leaders who will proactively chart the path forward for Hays County and pursue a model that can be shared with other communities across the state.
“It is county residents who currently live next door to data centers, and it is their wells which will first experience drawdown,” said Hays County Commissioner Morgan Hammer. “Yet, county governments are far more constrained than cities in their ability to regulate projects. To ensure our residents have accessible and affordable water in the future, we must find reliable, consistent, and legally defensible mechanisms.”
The initial invitees are as follows:
- Erin Zwiener, Texas House of Representatives, District 45
- Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe, Hays County Commissioner, Precinct 1
- Morgan Hammer, Hays County Commissioner, Precinct 3
- Amanda Rodriguez, City of San Marcos Councilmember, Place 6
- Zane Porterfield Liston, Wimberly Watershed Association
- Vanessa Puig-Williams, Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
- Virginia Parker, San Marcos River Foundation
- Andrew Weber, Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association
- Garrett Allen, Wimberley Water Supply
- Cy Weaver, Community Member
- Lon Shell, Community Member
- Adam Haynes, Texas Conference of Urban Counties
- Marisa Bruno, Hill Country Alliance
- Dr. Robert Mace, Executive Director, The Meadows Center
- Deborah Trejo, Kemp Smith Law