Central Texas Faces a Growing Water Crisis
A pipeline break in Pflugerville is the latest alarm in a region already stretched thin by drought, explosive growth, and the insatiable thirst of a booming data center industry.
Wednesday evening, Pflugerville Mayor Doug Weiss signed a Declaration of Disaster — not over a flood or a fire, but over the absence of water. A pipeline feeding raw water into Lake Pflugerville had failed, sending lake levels plummeting to historic lows and forcing the city to impose Stage 3 emergency water restrictions on its roughly 64,000 customers. Outdoor watering was banned outright. Pools could not be filled. Car washing at home was prohibited. Engineers warned that without aggressive conservation, the lake could drop below the city’s raw-water intake as soon as April 18, threatening drinking water, sanitation, and firefighting capability.
“Lake levels are at a critical point, and we must act now to ensure we can continue providing essential services. Every drop counts.” — Mayor Doug Weiss, Pflugerville, March 4, 2026
The Pflugerville emergency is jarring in its immediacy, but it did not arrive without warning. It is the most visible symptom of a water crisis that has been building across Central Texas for years — one fueled by persistent drought, record-breaking population growth, and a new and largely unregulated source of demand: artificial intelligence data centers.
The Lakes Are Not Recovering
The Highland Lakes — the chain of reservoirs on the Colorado River that anchors Central Texas’ water supply — have been under stress for years. After catastrophic flooding in early July 2025 temporarily boosted the combined storage of lakes Buchanan and Travis from 51% to more than 90% of capacity, that recovery proved short-lived. January 2026 inflows into the two reservoirs totaled about 27% of the historical average, according to LCRA data.
The winter of 2025–2026 ranked among the warmest on record, and rainfall deficits continued worsening through February.
In South Texas, Canyon Lake stood at roughly 60% of capacity as of late February 2026, having lost more than five feet of elevation since August 2025. The Edwards Aquifer breached Stage 5 drought thresholds — the most extreme level — during 2025, an unprecedented milestone since the aquifer authority’s founding in 1993. The Central Texas Water Coalition has warned that only flood-level events in the right watersheds can now meaningfully restore storage.
Growth That Outpaces Infrastructure
Into this stressed system, Central Texas continues to pour people. Georgetown’s population has grown more than 71% since the 2020 census, reaching an estimated 117,660 residents in 2026 at roughly 7.5% per year. Leander, with more than 87,500 residents, was the Austin metro’s fastest-growing city between 2023 and 2024. The Austin metro area as a whole is projected to surpass 4 million people by 2060. Hays County — home to rapidly expanding Kyle and San Marcos — is expected to grow most rapidly of all, with Bastrop County absorbing significant spillover to the east.
Georgetown has faced water restrictions driven by demand outstripping supply. The city is now calling a May election to sell off parts of its water service territory outside city limits — areas where rapid growth has placed unsustainable strain on the utility. Officials noted that shedding those external service areas could reduce their long-term water needs by 60%. Georgetown’s situation reflects a broader truth: infrastructure built for yesterday’s populations is being asked to serve tomorrow’s.
Data Centers: A Hidden and Growing Drain
Perhaps the least-discussed but fastest-growing pressure on the region’s water supply comes from the booming data center industry. Texas leads the nation in AI computing capacity. A January 2026 report from the Houston Advanced Research Center found that existing Texas data centers consume approximately 25 billion gallons of water annually — used primarily to cool the servers that power AI systems and cloud computing. A typical mid-sized data center uses around 300,000 gallons per day, roughly equivalent to a town of a thousand homes. Larger hyperscale facilities can consume up to 4.5 million gallons daily.
“The world just moves faster and faster. And suddenly, there’s all of these new demands for water.” — Robert Mace, Meadows Center for Water & the Environment, Texas State University
HARC projects that statewide data center water consumption could climb to between 29 and 161 billion gallons per year by 2030 — potentially accounting for as much as 10% of total statewide water demand above current planning assumptions. Unlike agriculture or municipalities, data centers have operated largely outside public water-use accountability. Only in February 2026 did the Texas Public Utility Commission agree to begin surveying data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations about their consumption. Because the State Water Plan updates only every five years, facilities that came online in 2025 won’t be fully incorporated into demand estimates until the next planning cycle.
A Region at a Crossroads
Pflugerville’s crisis, while triggered by a pipeline failure, is embedded in a much larger and more stubborn problem. Climate trends are making the region hotter and drier. Population growth shows no signs of slowing. And new industrial water users are arriving faster than regulators can measure them, let alone manage them.
Texas has committed $1 billion per year over the next two decades toward securing the state’s water supply — a sign that lawmakers recognize the scale of the challenge. But water policy experts warn that funding alone is not enough. Accountability, planning, and conservation must all keep pace with growth.
For now, Pflugerville residents are left with a stark reminder of how fragile the region’s water security has become. City workers are racing to install a temporary bypass pipeline, a permanent fix is months away, and the lake continues to drop.
In Central Texas, every drop has never counted more.
SOURCES
- KVUE News — “Pflugerville issues emergency Stage 3 water restrictions after line break,” March 4, 2026
- CBS Austin — “Pflugerville declares water emergency as pipeline failure drains Lake Pflugerville,” March 4, 2026
- Community Impact — “Pflugerville declares water disaster after pipeline failure, enacts restrictions,” March 4, 2026
- Hoodline — “Pipeline Meltdown Puts Pflugerville On The Brink Of Water Rationing,” March 5, 2026
- LCRA — Highland Lakes overview and inflows data, lcra.org
- Central Texas Water Coalition — Water supply data, centraltexaswatercoalition.org, Feb. 4, 2026
- KUT Public Media — “Georgetown calls election to stop managing water for nearby areas,” Feb. 13, 2026
- Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) — Texas Data Center Water Consumption Report, Jan. 2026
- HARC White Paper — “Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State,” Jan. 2026 (PDF)
- Smart Water Magazine — “Texas data center boom may slash billions of gallons from state water supplies by 2030,” Jan. 26, 2026
- KXAN Austin — “Texas regulators will ask data centers to begin reporting their water usage,” Feb. 2026
- Texas Observer — “The Texas AI Boom Is Outpacing Water Regulations,” Feb. 2026
- Texas Scorecard — “Texas Data Centers Thirst for Water, Challenging State Infrastructure,” Aug. 2025
- San Antonio Current — “Texas data centers could consume 161 billion gallons of water annually by 2030,” Jan. 21, 2026
- San Antonio Current — “Texas data centers will soon have to report water usage,” Feb. 12, 2026
Buford’s Bar & Beer Garden reopened last night about a week after the mass shooting that killed three victims and the gunman.
Tonight, Buford’s is reopened, despite Apple Maps listing it as “Permanently Closed” earlier this week.
— Vinny Martorano (@VinnyMartorano) March 7, 2026
All proceeds will be going towards victims and families most impacted by the mass shooting early Sunday.@cbsaustin pic.twitter.com/XZhAgBip3z
Buford’s staff said they’ve been working closely with police and city officials to ensure the bar reopens “as safely as possible.” The post noted that police will increase their presence around Sixth Street and Rio Grande Street, and that Rio Grande will be closed to through‑traffic from Sixth to the alley between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
One of the victim’s of Sunday’s shooting was Texas Tech student Ryder Harrington. His funeral was held Friday in Austin.
🔎 Latest Developments in the Investigation
🚨 Updated Victim Count & Identities
- 19 total people shot, including the gunman.
- Three victims died at the scene:
- Ryder Harrington (19)
- Savitha Shan (21)
- Suspected gunman
- A fourth victim, Jorge Pederson (30), died later from injuries.
🕒 Police Response Timeline
- APD officers arrived within 57 seconds of the first 911 call — an unusually fast response for a mass-casualty event.
ATCEMS quickly dispatched five ambulances, five commanders and five single-unit responders in cars, as is protocol for an active attack call. They also sent five units of whole blood for transfusions.
More from the Austin American-Statesman.
🎥 Newly Released Video & 911 Audio
- APD has released body‑cam footage, surveillance video, and 911 calls, showing the chaos on West 6th Street and how bystanders directed officers to the shooter.
- Video shows the gunman, 53‑year‑old Ndiaga Diagne, pulling up to Buford’s bar and firing a semi‑automatic rifle into the crowd.
🕵️ Federal Investigation
- The FBI and APD are conducting a large-scale joint investigation, with 150+ FBI personnel involved.
- Investigators have processed the shooter’s residence and other key locations, but motive remains unclear and the case is still active.
The FBI announced they’ve collected over 2,000 images in their investigation.
🧭 What’s Next?
- APD says more details will be released as investigators piece together the shooter’s background and potential motive.
- Additional video and investigative updates are expected later this week.
According to a lawsuit filed against Tesla, the suspect in the mass shooting in downtown Austin, Ndiaga Diagne, allegedly assaulted a coworker back in December.
— Vinny Martorano (@VinnyMartorano) March 7, 2026
The lawsuit says Diagne "violently and without provocation physically assaulted" his coworker at Tesla.@cbsaustin pic.twitter.com/Dli10PS0kU
More from the Austin American-Statesman.
The Travis County District Attorney‘s office has filed a petition for discretionary review related to the acquittal of former Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who was acquitted by an appeals court in late December. (FOX 7 Austin)
A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by an Austin college student who was deported to Honduras, ruling that the Massachusetts court lost jurisdiction after she refused to board a court‑ordered flight back to the United States last week. (CBS Austin)
Interstate 35 northbound towards Slaughter Lane was shut down early Friday morning after a multi-vehicle crash in South Austin. All lanes of the roadway were closed for several hours after the crash happened sometime before 4:50 a.m. in the 9900 block of I-35. (KVUE-TV)
The Legacy Ranch Drive project in Liberty Hill is underway.
Numerous pieces of machinery were damaged by vandals and several items were stolen earlier this week in Leander, causing thousands of dollars of damage and loss.
Two reports out of Hays County.
First, detection of high levels of strains of COVID19 have been detected in water samples by health officials, showing spikes in Buda and San Marcos.
Secondly, a Hays County woman is recovering after a rabid fox attack.
Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the Austin Independent School District that it could be fined $5,000 daily for alleged violations of Texas’ new bathroom bill. The law prohibits transgender people’s use of certain
public restrooms in government buildings.
Meanwhile, facing a $10.9 million budget shortfall, the Pflugerville Independent School District has outlined several cost‑cutting options, including the possible closure of six campuses in 2027. A draft plan presented Thursday identified the schools under review, though consultants stressed that district leaders have not made a decision yet. (Austin American-Statesman)
Fuel moistures will improve and remain elevated through this morning, reducing fire potential. The driest and breeziest environment capable of supporting moderate initial attack potential is the western High Plains, but the risk of large fires should remain low.
WEATHER
FRIDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERATURES
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Democratic voter turnout more than doubled compared with recent Texas primaries, helping drive more than 4.4 million ballots cast in this year’s statewide primary elections. (KUT 90.5)
Now that James Talarico is the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Texas, national Republicans – and the ones around here – are wastin’ no time working to define him as a “far left” Austin liberal. He’s trying to get ahead of that but Republicans are using Talarico’s own words to prove it. Meantime, Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton spent most of their week wondering if President Trump is about to shut down their GOP runoff by endorsing one of them and demanding the other quit the race. Plus, Tony Ortiz at Current Revolt stops by to talk about the confession by Congressman Tony Gonzales that he did in fact have an inappropriate relationship with his staffer who later committed suicide.
(Episode from March 6, 2026)
Rep. Jasmine Crockett lost the nomination to Talarico by a decisive margin — the result of a fiercely competitive primary that overwhelmed the Dallas congresswoman’s starting assets and tested the power of political celebrity among Texas Democrats. Her loss reflected both the strength of Talarico’s campaign and her own team’s inability to scale in time for such an expensive and hotly contested statewide race. — Texas Tribune
Days after President Donald Trump announced he plans to end the Texas Senate primary runoff with his endorsement, incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and challenger Attorney General Ken Paxton began sparring online about who is most likely to secure Trump’s agenda.
If you were serious about supporting the President, you would support abolishing the filibuster and call out your best friend McConnell for opposing the bill.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 6, 2026
But you aren't serious—you're weak. That's why you're once again refusing to call for abolishing the filibuster. https://t.co/SMaND7Pt6F
Rep. Dan Crenshaw says a culture of misinformation fueled his primary loss.
“The truth didn’t matter.”
From the Texas Tribune.
New maps from Customs and Border Protection suggest a significant reclassification of land previously slated for border wall construction. This shift follows a recent appeal from Texas House members, who urged the governor to lobby the Trump administration against what they termed “unnecessary militarization.” (FOX 7 Austin)
San Antonio City Council voted to instruct city staff to explore options to limit the opening of certain types of detention facilities there. (San Antonio Current)
The Texas Department of Public Safety has made public the footage from a 2024 incident in which federal agents shot and killed a San Antonio man. The released video contradicts any narrative of high-speed aggression, instead showing the 23-year-old moving slowly through traffic and engaging with officers before the fatal gunfire began.
On April 1, Texas will become the first state to ban SNAP recipients from buying candy, gum, and sweetened soft drinks. Many more changes are underway for SNAP users, the most in recent memory. (Texas Health and Human Services)
Campbell’s Soup said its facility in Paris, Texas, will stop producing soup and instead focus on making Prego pasta sauce and Pace salsa, a move that will cost about 200 jobs. (Houston Chronicle)
A turbulent week in politics delivered both international tension and major shakeups in Texas elections.
(Episode from March 6, 2026)
Texas shattered voting turnout records in a wild primary season that saw James Talarico defeat Jasmine Crockett, and Sen. John Cornyn pushed into a runoff election with Ken Paxton.
(Episode from March 6, 2026)
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASEBALL: Behind a season-high five home runs, No. 3 Texas posted a 14-2 run-rule victory over USC Upstate at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday night. The Longhorns (13-0) mounted runs in six of the eight innings against the Spartans (7-8), punctuating the evening with Anthony Pack Jr.’s walk-off grand slam. (Texas Longhorns)
ON THE SCHEDULE
Other games today in the SEC and Big 12:
NBA: The San Antonio Spurs keep rolling.
Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 117-112 on Friday night. (Associated Press)
LAST NIGHT
Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are off tonight.
NHL: Valeri Nichushkin scored with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, then made one of NHL-leading Colorado’s two shots in a shootout to beat Dallas 5-4 on Friday night, ending the Stars’ franchise-record winning streak at 10 games. (Associated Press)
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
MLS: Austin FC is back in action tonight.
On the latest episode of the Texas Country Reporter, a visit to Cuero, Texas, at Wagner’s Hardware & Gifts, a generational hardware store where the floors creak with history, the shelves are full of surprises, and the customer service still feels like a handshake. It’s been in business for 80 years.
