Water is already scare out here; there are portions of Lubbock and Wolfforth that are already running out of water. An estate-lot subdivision in Lubbock County was recently annexed into the city because the wells out there were dry; the property owners are paying over $33,000 each to buy into the city water system. Housing developments continue, though, with most of them featuring giant lots with water-sucking green grass lawns.

Data centers are here; counties are excited about the revenues these centers will produce. However. HOWEVER.  There’s not any credible record of eventual water or electricity use by these places. Not much mention of the loss of dark skies in rural counties that’ll have these giant developments. We’re not (officially) especially concerned about electricity even though Texas’s power grid is famously unstable ALREADY. Will local residents still have jobs after the big construction push is over and how many people does it take to staff a data center? Probably not many. Will the data centers be active and important parts of these communities? I think we know how this’ll play out.

And water? Just don’t get used to it, I guess…

Monotype print using original photo of water tank – Hockley County, Texas
photographed 6.14.2026; monoprint 7.3.2026