Sinton's data center ambitions may be driving water fight

A new investigation by Inside Climate News and the Texas Newsroom reveals that Corpus Christi officials believe the small San Patricio County town of Sinton may be fighting the city's emergency Evangeline Aquifer groundwater project in order to reserve water supplies for a planned data center development worth several billion dollars.

Corpus Christi is racing to complete the Evangeline project as the region's reservoirs hover near critical lows. But a legal challenge filed by Sinton in February has now survived an initial ruling and could drag on for years. Meanwhile, circumstantial evidence is mounting: a 1,000-acre industrial rezoning, new well permits, and a nearby AEP substation acquisition all point toward a major water-intensive facility in the works. Sinton officials have neither confirmed nor denied the data center plans.

The story lands amid a statewide reckoning over data center water consumption. A University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology report estimates Texas data centers could consume more than five times as much water by 2030 as they do today, potentially surpassing agricultural and energy sector use combined.

For the Coastal Bend, the stakes are big: half a million residents across seven counties depend on the regional water system that Sinton officials may be holding hostage for the rumored data center.

Read the story by Dylan Baddour of Inside Climate News with reporting from Neena Satija of the Texas Newsroom.