Wharton County, Texas Regulators Approve Amazon Data Center Permits as Residents Warn About Water Use and Rural Growth
WHARTON COUNTY, TX — Amazon’s plans for a vast data center campus in Wharton County are moving ahead after state and local regulators approved water permits for the project, even as many residents continue to object to the scale of the development and its impact on rural water supplies. The company is building a 3,000-acre complex near Boling, about 10 miles southeast of Wharton and roughly an hour south of Houston.
The site is expected to include between 10 and 13 data center buildings, each said to be roughly the size of a Walmart Supercenter. Amazon says the campus will support at least 300 full-time jobs, with 150 of those positions expected to open by mid-2027. The company also says construction will create thousands of additional jobs while the project is built out.
Water permits at the center of local concern
The biggest point of contention is water. The Coastal Bend Groundwater Conservation District issued Amazon water permits in May and again earlier in September, allowing the company to draw groundwater for needs such as restrooms, construction crews and fire protection.
Those permits do not cover the much larger amount of surface water the complex could require. Local residents and county leaders have argued that scarce water in rural farm communities makes large data center projects especially difficult to absorb. Some neighboring county officials have also urged the Legislature to act on water rights and county zoning authority, saying local governments have limited tools to stop this kind of development.
Abbott orders audits and new rules for data centers
Gov. Greg Abbott has taken a sharper position on data centers after complaints about compliance with state law and concerns over infrastructure pressure. In June, he directed state regulators to audit data center companies before approving permits, with the goal of making sure they pay for their own electric infrastructure, reuse their own water and avoid shifting costs to Texas families and small businesses.
Abbott also instructed regulators to enforce water-use reporting rules and penalty provisions. His Sept. 21 directive ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to pause permits requested by data centers until audits are complete. Amazon is among the companies that said it would comply with the state’s requirements and had previously said it would do so in response to Abbott’s directives.
Amazon says the Wharton County campus will limit water use
Amazon has been trying to reassure residents that the project will not strain local supplies. In a public explanation of the campus, the company said the 13 planned buildings will not use water for cooling and that no groundwater will be used for that purpose at the site.
Instead, Amazon says it is working with regional and local water authorities on nonpotable water solutions for any cooling needs that may arise. The company says its potable water use will be limited to about 16,000 gallons per day, a volume it compares with roughly 54 households or a typical office building with similar staffing.
Amazon also says its cooling systems use outside air about 90% of the time, with surface water needed only during the hottest parts of the year. The company says it has cut its water use per IT load in half since 2021.
Jobs, construction and a large regional footprint
Beyond water questions, Amazon is presenting the project as a major economic investment. The company says the campus will deliver long-term jobs and a large construction effort, with thousands of workers expected at different stages of the build. That scale has made the project one of the most closely watched industrial developments in the region.
Amazon also says it has spent nearly two decades building and operating data centers and describes itself as a long-term partner in the communities where it operates. The company says it is “building responsibly in Wharton County,” and it argues that the project is designed to be compatible with local needs if managed carefully.
Community fund and water replenishment efforts
To help address local concerns, Amazon says it has created a Wharton County Community Fund and is supporting a water replenishment project tied to local agriculture. The company says the effort will help farmers adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying irrigation practices in the lower Colorado River watershed.
Amazon says those methods can reduce flood-based irrigation demand by 25% or more without reducing crop yields. Over a 10-year period, the company says the project is expected to replenish more than 225 million gallons of water annually. Amazon also says it is already 75% of the way toward returning more water to communities than it uses in its data center operations.
The company says it is also pursuing reclaimed water and other alternative sources with state water authorities. For now, though, the broader debate in Wharton County remains tied to a familiar question for rural Texas communities: how to welcome growth without losing control over limited water resources.