WATER ISSUES
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT NOW?
Every five years, BRA conducts a planning study. The last study was in 2022 and predicts that at least one city in each of the 37 counties will have water shortages in the next 14 years (by 2036). The study did not account for the impact of datacenters. The next report comes out in 2027 and will also not include datacenter impact. Reality will continue to be worse than the forecast. 2022 REPORT
WE ARE ALREADY IN A SEVERE DROUGHT:
As of April 11, 2026 we are in a Stage 1 drought and BRA expects us to hit Stage 2 by July.
PHOTOS OF BELTON LAKE DURING THE LAST STAGE 2 DROUGHT, AUG 2023:
From Suzanne M - local citizen who took these pics:
This was Lake Belton in August 2023. The water was so low it was scary. In 2019, the City of Temple agreed to let Niagara Bottling come here. This company takes water from Lake Belton, cleans it, puts it in bottles, and sells it back to people. The people who live here were not asked if they agreed. Now we are already in Stage 1 water restrictions, and summer hasn’t even started. Just three years ago, the lake was dangerously low. It was so low that the old bridge supports from Highway 36 could be seen lying on the dry lake bed. That should have been a warning. We live in an area that has droughts again and again. Water is precious here. But even knowing that, city leaders have made deals with not just one, but two AI data centers that will also use our water. We did not agree to put our water supply at risk. We did not agree to the loud noise from these centers. We did not agree to the extra heat from all that equipment. And we did not agree to give big companies tax breaks while families are struggling to stay in their homes. This is our water. This is our community. We deserve to be heard.
WHAT IS A WATER SHORTAGE:
In layman’s terms, it is when you turn on the faucet, and nothing comes out.
BUT THEY MUST HAVE A PLAN TO FIX IT:
They do, in the water report listed above, there is an 11-point plan to help mitigate water shortages, which includes draining Belton Lake and Lake Waco back into the aquifer.
ROWAN SAYS THAT THEY AREN’T USING MORE THAN A FEW MILLION GALLONS ONCE IN 10 YEARS.
Rowan also brags about using a closed-loop system. There are more inconsistencies here.
Open-Loop Cooling
Also known as evaporative chillers are the “old-style” cooling systems that consumed 5 million gallons of water per day.
Closed-Loop Water Cooling
These are the newer systems Rowan claims to be using. They are 70-80% more efficient than Open-Loop systems but still consume up to 1.5 million gallons per day on a hot day, with annual averages claimed around 400,000 - 750,000 gallons per day.
Yet, Rowan is claiming their “closed-loop system” uses zero additional water.
The technology they describe does exist, it’s not typically called “closed-loop.” It usually has other names like “advanced cooling” but maybe they use the term closed-loop because it’s easier for normal people to understand. The problem lies in the cost.
Advanced Cooling
Advanced Cooling technologies operate the way Rowan is describing. However, the cost of such a system would be more than their total project budget, just for the cooling system. While costs have come down substantially in the past two years, the cooling system they are describing would cost approximately $900 million, again just for the cooling, and the total budget for the whole Project Temple is $700 million.
When they first pitched this project to the City of Temple, that cost was closer to $3 Billion.
Something doesn’t add up.
WELL, ROWAN MUST BE FOLLOWING THE RULES…..
Industrial facilities like this are supposed to go through the BRA for larger water contracts, based on volume, so we can plan and conserve the water. The problem: BRA is no longer giving industrial contracts due to a lack of water. So Rowan went to Temple to ask for a portion of our municipal water. The BRA had requested we decrease our water usage, but due to our town’s growth, our daily water usage is already up by 35%. This does not factor in the data centers that are not yet online. At this rate, our water shortages will happen much sooner than 2036. Rowan bypassed the right way to do this because our city government allowed them to do so, including the entire city council, city manager, and city attorney.
WHAT DOES BRAZOS RIVER AUTHORITY DO?
The Brazos River Authority is responsible for managing the water of the entire Brazos River Basin, covering 37 counties from Lubbock to Sugar Land, including Bell County, as well as McLennan (Waco) and Coryell (Ft Hood).
INTERVIEW WITH BRAZOS RIVER AUTHORITY:
See questions and answers HERE
WHAT HAPPENS TO DISCARDED WATER:
There are a number of inconsistencies when Rowan talks about water. They admit there is no plan to treat wastewater, and the City has confirmed. They claim they need 2 million gallons of water to charge the cooling system, and that water will last 10-15 years without needing any additional water for cooling.
They also claim they will not add any chemicals to the cooling water.
These statements do not agree.
Without anti-corrosive chemicals, there is no possible way the system can last 10-15 years. This would violate industry best practices. With chemicals, the wastewater would need to be pre-treated before going to the community water treatment plant, because the treatment plant is not capable of extracting the chemicals with its filtration system. Something doesn’t add up.
In asking for an audit or some evidence to support the water usage claims, we have asked the City to disclose information about the water meters for Meta and Moriah. Moriah was Rowan’s first data center in Temple, which was operational for almost a year before it failed. As of April 11, 2026, there is no proof of an operational or successful center built by Rowan.
All of this could be resolved with an environmental and utility audit. That is all we have been asking for from our city government. Their lack of concern is why we are removing them and replacing them with other civil servants so we can have a government that will stop this bleeding.
IF YOU WEREN’T SURE, WHY NOT JUST ASK THE CITY:
In short, we did. We all did. Several times. Over several months.
We have also asked the City for the Utility Agreements covering Meta and all of Rowan’s datacenters, including Moriah. They have not responded yet. Rowan has a new agreement for only & up to 4,000 gallons daily for administrative use, but this does not align with the water needed for a closed-loop system.
We suspect that the additional water is coming from the original Moriah utility contract, which they have already admitted to using. This utility agreement remains undisclosed, although more than one person has requested it.
Who hides public records that could support what they are asking the public to believe? Does that make sense to you? It sure doesn’t make sense to me, neighbor.
TRANSPARENCY ON OUR WATER RESOURCES DURING A DROUGHT SHOULD BE AS CLEAR AS WE WANT OUR WATER.