Here is what is happening.

A New York company plans to build one of the largest data centers in West Texas. The site is in Tom Green County. They call the project Colchis.

Public tax records from the Tom Green County Appraisal District reveal something noteworthy. A company called Colchis LLC bought four tracts of land here in March 2026. Together, the tracts total more than 301 acres. The mailing address on all four records is 1 Vanderbilt Avenue in New York City.

All four tracts are within the Lipan-Kickapoo Water Conservation District. That is the local elected board that decides who gets to drill water wells.

Here is the problem. The company still has not told the public where Colchis will get its water.

Why this should worry you.

Data centers use enormous amounts of water to keep their computers cool.

On August 10, 2026, Cipher Digital issued a press release about its Texas projects. In the release, the company said it uses only treated brackish, non-potable water for cooling. It also said it is "leading the industry in developing methods to utilize oilfield produced water" for the same purpose.

Produced water is the leftover water that comes back up out of oil and gas wells.

The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates oil and gas in this state. Its framework defines produced water to include fracking flowback and chemicals added downhole. The Commission says what is in that water can make it unfit for most human, farm, environmental, or industrial uses unless it is treated first.

It is also brutally salty. Research funded by the state puts Permian Basin produced water at roughly three to four times saltier than seawater.

In 2023, Physicians for Social Responsibility reviewed the oil industry's chemical disclosures on FracFocus. They found more than 43,000 pounds of PFAS used in Texas oil and gas wells since 2013. PFAS are the forever chemicals linked to cancer. Millions of pounds of other chemicals were never disclosed. Texas rules allow companies to keep them secret as trade secrets.

Texas has not yet finalized the rules for reusing this water. The TCEQ proposed rules in April 2026, and public comment closed on June 16, 2026. The rules are not expected to be finalized until 2027.

Now here is the part that ought to get your attention.

The Lipan-Kickapoo Water Conservation District was created in 1987. The Texas Legislature's own record explains why. People around here were worried about their groundwater being contaminated by leaking oil and gas wells.

That is literally what this district was built to stop.

Now a company is talking about running oilfield water through cooling towers, day after day.

On top of the same aquifer.

The district's rules were last amended in 2007. No one was thinking about a 1,000-megawatt data center back then.

What we are NOT saying.

We are not against business. West Texas has been in the energy business for a hundred years. We are proud of it.

We are not saying treated water can never be used for anything. Engineers can clean almost any water if you spend enough money.

We will even give the company credit where it is due. The state sent out a survey asking data centers about their water use. Only 28 of 377 companies bothered to answer. Cipher says it was one of them. Good. That is the right instinct.

Here is all we are saying. The term "non-potable" does not tell you what is actually in the water. Brackish groundwater and oilfield produced water are two very different things.

Someone wants to pump one of them through cooling towers located on top of our aquifer. The people who live here deserve to see the plan first.

Ask the questions first. Pour the concrete second. That is just common sense.

What we are asking the Lipan-Kickapoo Water Conservation District to do.

Five things. All of them are inside this board's authority, or say plainly where it is not.

1.     Hold a public hearing on big industrial water wells. Right now, district rules let the general manager sign off on well permits when no hearing is required. We are asking the board to require a public hearing instead. Give at least 30 days notice. Apply it to any well permit tied to a data center or other large industrial user.

2.     Make the company answer the water questions in public and in writing. Do it before any permit is issued. Where the water comes from. Which aquifer, and how deep. How many gallons a day. What treatment system. And what happens to the leftover salt and brine after treatment.

3.     Require water testing before and after. Test neighboring wells before construction starts. That way we know what normal looks like. Then keep testing on a regular schedule. The company pays for it. Post the results where the public can see them. Test for salts, metals, and PFAS.

4.     Say so out loud if this board cannot do it alone. Some of this may sit with TCEQ or the Railroad Commission instead. Water trucked in from oilfields is one example. Wastewater discharge is another. If that is the case, pass a resolution saying exactly that. Send it to those agencies and to our state legislators. Other Texas groundwater districts have already done this.

5.     Update the 2007 rules. Add a category for large industrial users. Require real notice, hearings, monitoring, and reporting.

Sign it. Then send it to one neighbor.

The board's next regular meeting is September 2, 2026, at 7:30 a.m. in Wall.

You do not have to be an expert on any of this. You just have to live here. You just have to want a straight answer about your own water.

Sign, then share it with one person who farms, ranches, or drinks from a well in Tom Green County.

The Lipan-Kickapoo Conservation Water District covers Tom Green, Concho, and Runnels Counties. Cipher Digital's "Colchis" site is in Tom Green County. Click here to send an email or to contact the District and Board Members.