Prosper residents who fought a $580 million data center got a state-level boost Monday, Sept. 14, when Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to pursue criminal referrals against facilities that have not completed legally required water-use surveys.

The directive, laid out in a letter to TWDB, orders the agency to refer violations to county or district attorneys and to notify the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) about possible permit disqualification. Under the Texas Water Code, failing to return the survey is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine, Houston Public Media reported. Noncompliant facilities could also lose eligibility for TCEQ permits.

Abbott's order landed one week after Prosper's data center fight reached its conclusion. White Rose Partners withdrew its Project Tomahawk proposal on Sept. 8, before the Town Council could vote. The Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission had voted 7-0 to recommend denial on Sept. 1.

"Residents have made themselves heard on this application, and what they are asking for is not complicated: write the rules first … I hear you," Mayor David Bristol said as residents voiced opposition to the project at the Sept. 1 meeting, a week before the developer pulled the project.

In the letter, Abbott wrote that TWDB must enforce penalties against noncompliant data centers, including referring violations to county or district attorneys and notifying TCEQ about possible permit disqualification. He also directed the agency to coordinate with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on the water portion of an ongoing data center audit.

The compliance gap is wide. At a Sept. 1 Senate committee hearing, TWDB representative Temple McKinnon testified the agency sent 2,025 water-use surveys to 341 facilities identified as data centers and received responses from only 30 percent, Texas Scorecard reported. Responses to the calendar year 2025 survey were due March 1, 2026.

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, warned data center operators at that same hearing that water-use secrecy would not fly.

"Water is a fungible asset available for all 30 million plus Texans, so there will be no confidentiality on water use," Perry said at the Sept. 1 hearing, according to Community Impact. Perry also said he plans to introduce a standalone bill addressing data center water consumption during the 2027 legislative session.

On Aug. 3, Abbott ordered PUCT and ERCOT to audit all data centers advancing through ERCOT's interconnection process. ERCOT said it plans to complete that audit by December. Any data center that fails to respond to the audit's water-use questions will trigger TWDB's independent enforcement authority.

The stakes are personal for Prosper and Celina residents already absorbing the cost of water infrastructure. The two towns are jointly funding a $269 million expansion of the Doe Branch Water Reclamation Plant, which will increase capacity from 4 million gallons per day to 12 million gallons per day by fall 2028. Prosper Town Council approved water rate increases of 13.95% and wastewater rate increases of 17.96% on Sept. 8, raising the average monthly bill from $177.70 to $205 starting Oct. 15. Town officials cited nearly $33 million in debt for the Doe Branch expansion as the primary driver.

A North Central Texas Council of Governments survey of local elected officials and municipal staff found that 96% of respondents' concerns about data centers were related to water.

TWDB must update the governor's office on its enforcement progress by Oct. 14.