Oklahoma City, OK — A bill originally focused on groundwater permitting took a new turn recently as state lawmakers added provisions aimed at regulating water use by data centers, with a Western Oklahoma legislator leading the push.
Rep. Nick Archer, R-Elk City, chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, required an amendment addressing data center water consumption before allowing Senate Bill 259 to be heard during the committee’s final meeting of the legislative session.
“I’ll be candid with the committee,” Archer said. “I said, hey, if you wanna hear this bill, this amendment has to be included.”
The amendment targets how data centers cool their systems when using groundwater. Under the proposal, facilities would be required to use closed-loop systems or other low-consumption cooling methods such as dielectric cooling fluid or air cooling. Traditional open-air evaporative cooling systems, which consume large amounts of water, would not be allowed if groundwater is the primary cooling source.
Archer said the goal is to protect a critical resource.
“Groundwater is a precious resource, we need to protect that,” he said, noting that widely cited high water usage figures for data centers are tied to evaporative cooling methods.
The amendment was adopted without opposition from committee members.
The underlying bill, authored by Rep. Carl Newton, R-Cherokee, and Sen. Brent Howard, focuses on requiring water meters for high-volume groundwater users.
Newton said the measure is a response to concerns from constituents and aims to provide better tracking of water usage across the state.
“This is serious. This water is essential to life, essential to everyday life,” Newton said. “All I’m asking is that we measure that much water so we know exactly how much they’re using.”
The legislation would apply only to high-volume users and would not impact domestic water use. Oversight would fall to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, with usage limits based on a rolling five-year average that accounts for regional differences in rainfall and water availability.
The bill also allows for flexibility, permitting users to exceed their annual allocation by up to 150 percent in a given year, as long as their five-year average remains within permitted limits.
Meters required under the proposal are estimated to cost between $1,750 and $4,000.
Some lawmakers raised concerns about potential impacts on agricultural operations, but Newton emphasized the long-term risks facing the state’s water supply, particularly in western Oklahoma.
Citing research from Oklahoma State University, Newton said portions of the Ogallala Aquifer could be depleted within decades.
“If we cease to have water out there, we cease to exist out there,” he said.
The House Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 8-0 to advance SB259 with a “do pass” recommendation.
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