STOP THE DATA CENTER DRAIN IN AUSTIN

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Tell Austin to STOP THE DATA CENTER DRAIN! Large-scale data centers are resource-intensive industrial facilities with extraordinary demands for water, electricity, land and infrastructure. Those demands are being proposed in a region already constrained by water availability, grid capacity and rapid growth affecting our communities. We have an opportunity RIGHT NOW to ask city leaders to provide meaningful policy direction to either BAN or BRING FORWARD A MORATORIUM on all new, large-scale data centers within the City limits. We need the Austin City Council to FIGHT BACK, like the Cities of San Marcos and San Antonio. Neither Austin nor Texas needs to be the epicenter of the data center industry.

Speak Up to the Austin Mayor, Austin City Council, and other key City leaders, demanding that they BAN data centers to protect Austin's future.

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Recipient(s)

Chito Vela
Eric Johnson
Jose Velasquez
Keith Mars
Krista Laine
Mark Duchen
Mayor Kirk Watson
Mike Siegel
Natasha Harper-Madison
Paige Ellis
Ryan Alter
TC Broadnax
Vanessa Fuentes
Zo Qadri

Subject

Dear [Recipients],

Please postpone or amend Item 61 and direct the City Manager to bring forward a ban, or at minimum adopt a moratorium, on new large-scale data centers in Austin. The draft resolution is far too weak. Regulating this industry is not enough when data centers threaten Austin&rsquo;s water supply, electric grid, air quality, agricultural land, and affordability.
Water: &nbsp;Texas was already facing a water crisis before the data center boom. The 2022 State Water Plan projected a 1.6 trillion-gallon shortage by 2030, growing to 2.3 trillion gallons by 2070, and those numbers do not include new data center demand. The Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) estimates Texas data centers already use about 25 billion gallons of water each year for electricity generation and cooling, and that demand could rise to up to 161 billion gallons by 2030. A single data center built today can rival the water and energy demands of a small town. The cumulative demand of facilities that must run continuously can quickly become unmanageable in a drought-vulnerable region.&nbsp;
Energy:&nbsp; ERCOT&rsquo;s queue includes more than 438,000 MW of proposed large-user demand, nearly 90% from data centers&mdash;more than five times ERCOT&rsquo;s all-time peak demand. Serving that load will require expensive generation, substations, and transmission upgrades, and those costs will show up in higher electric bills for residents and small businesses.&nbsp;
Air Quality: Data centers also worsen air quality when they rely on on-site power plants or backup generators that emit fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and other pollutants linked to asthma attacks, respiratory illness, heart disease, and other serious health problems. The residents most impacted by the current resolution will be environmental justice populations that live in the closest proximity to industrial zoning.
Farmland:&nbsp; Data centers compete for the same land Austin&rsquo;s own sustainable food plans say we should protect. The Austin/Travis County Food Plan calls for preserving agricultural land for local food production, yet data center development is driving up land prices and converting rural land that could support farms, ranches, aquifer recharge, and climate resilience. Austin should not sacrifice its water, air, land, grid reliability, or affordability for an industry that consumes enormous public resources while leaving residents to bear the risks.
Dog&rsquo;s Head:&nbsp; The area where a large-scale data center is most likely to occur is at the Dog&rsquo;s Head. It&rsquo;s got a development agreement that lays out a welcome mat for industrial users, along the banks of the Colorado River. Please prohibit data centers on the Dog&rsquo;s Head.

Closing

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Thank you for voicing your concerns and for protecting the Austin's water, land, air, and communities at risk.

Mark Your Calendars! UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW UP
- City Council Work Session Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 9 AM
- Austin City Council Meeting Thursday, August 27, 2026 Meeting begins @ 9 AM, (Sign up to speak starting Monday 8/24, last in-person sign ups morning of 8/27 at 8:45 AM)