Utility districts that serve new subdivisions would have to show they actually have water and sewer capacity, and data centers would have to tell water providers how much they expect to use, under positions the North Texas Municipal Water District plans to push in the 2027 Legislature.
The regional water district's board is scheduled Thursday, Oct. 22, to approve a four-page legislative positions statement that will guide its staff, lobbyists and lawyers once the 90th session opens in January. The board's legislative committee reviewed it Oct. 7.
Growth outside city limits
The district says it supports requiring every kind of special district that provides water and sewer service, including municipal utility districts, to submit enough evidence that water supply and wastewater capacity are available. The statement says that would help plan for the region's future needs and let the district's member cities and customers judge whether they can serve development beyond their city limits.
On wastewater, the district backs the state's regionalization policy. When an existing city or regional system can provide adequate service, the statement says, new development should generally connect to it rather than build its own treatment plant. It wants state environmental regulators to keep weighing capacity, cost, timing and location when they review new discharge permits.
Data centers and conservation
The district calls data centers an important part of the economy but says their water needs belong in state, regional and local planning. It would support laws requiring data centers to tell their providers both their projected and actual water consumption, and to share it with planning agencies such as the Texas Water Development Board and the Public Utility Commission.
It also wants providers to keep the authority to decide whether enough water and infrastructure exist to serve a project.
Citing a service-area population expected to double over the next 50 years, the statement pledges support for bills that promote water conservation.