Texas Data Center Water Infrastructure Takes Center Stage As State Scrutiny Intensifies

Dallas, TX - As Texas grapples with the rapidly evolving water and infrastructure requirements associated with AI-scale data centers, industry leaders from across the water, energy and data center sectors will gather in Dallas on October 6–7 for the AI Data Center Water Infrastructure Congress.

The conference comes at a significant moment for the state, with growing attention on how data-center development will affect water resources, power demand, infrastructure capacity and local communities.

The programme will bring together water utilities, data-center developers and operators, government and regulatory stakeholders, researchers, engineers and technology providers to examine how Texas can accommodate future digital infrastructure while strengthening long-term water resilience.

The opening day will focus heavily on the emerging policy and planning environment. Sessions include an update from Andrew Parks, Committee Director of the Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, on recommendations following the Committee's September 1 hearing on AI data-center water consumption. A further session will examine the new water and cooling audit process, including water sources, cooling approaches and community impacts.

The conference will also look beyond regulation to the practical challenges facing utilities and developers. Speakers will explore forecasting data-center demand, early utility-developer coordination, reclaimed and non-potable water supplies, community engagement and the infrastructure required to support future growth.

A major theme will be transparency and community confidence. Mike Slattery, Chair of the Data Center & Infrastructure Commission in Fort Worth, will examine how water, power, land, infrastructure, economics and community considerations can be brought together into a more evidence-based approach to data-center development.

Day two turns to practical water resilience and technology, including reclaimed water, advanced treatment, alternative supplies, cooling architectures, hybrid cooling, closed-loop approaches and the water-power trade-offs associated with different cooling strategies.

The event's central question is increasingly relevant across Texas: how can the state support continued investment in AI infrastructure while ensuring that water supply, cooling requirements and community resilience are properly understood and planned for?

With uncertainty surrounding future AI workloads, cooling technologies, water availability and infrastructure requirements, the conference aims to provide a forum for utilities, developers, policymakers and the wider water sector to examine the practical decisions that will shape Texas' data-center landscape over the coming decade.

For further information, please contact jane@strategy-engineering-research.com or visit the website https://aidatacenterspowercooling.com/.