City discussions on proposed data centers raises environmental concerns

By Joel Mendez

News Reporter 

SAN MARCOS— San Marcos could become home to Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers within the next few years, with one proposal under city review. Another announcement from CloudBurst Data Centers was reported by KXAN News. Cloudburst has not yet submitted zoning or permit requests.

San Marcos officials recently reviewed a proposal during the Feb. 18 city council meeting to rezone 200 acres along Francis Harris Lane for a data center. The proposal was submitted by the civil law firm Armbrust & Brown on behalf of property owners John Maberry & Donald and Germaine Tuff of Highlander SM One, LLC.

They seek to change the land’s purpose from conservation to commercial use. This rezoning would allow for industrial development, clearing the way for the data center’s construction.

The proposal will be presented to city council again on April 1 and April 15 for further review.

Also, during the meeting, property owner John Maberry clarified that this proposal is separate from the recently reported data center project by CloudBurst. On their website CloudBurst announced its plans to build the company’s first AI data center “close to San Marcos”.

This overlapping interest in developing AI data centers in San Marcos has led to questions about the city’s ability to handle the combined demands of these massive facilities.

What is a data center and what does it require?

A data center is a facility where servers and other technology is kept to store, handle, and process massive volumes of data for an array of services. With the rise of artificial intelligence, data centers are now being designed to accommodate the unique demands of AI workloads.

Texas State University computer science professor, Apan Qasem, explained how these facilities operate and why they require significantly more energy.

“AI data centers are very similar to regular data centers, except that they’re running AI workloads,” said Qasem. “All they’re doing is training AI models and running inference tests. Unlike traditional data centers that rely on CPUs, AI computation happens on graphical processing units (GPUs), or specialized hardware optimized for AI tasks.”

Environmental concerns have become a major topic of discussion, specifically regarding water and energy consumption. San Marcos is faced with a projected water shortage by 2047, and the high demand of water raises questions about the benefits of a data center.

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Facilities supporting AI workloads require vast amounts of water to cool the servers that handle the data. Given the region’s impending water scarcity, the impact of these facilities on local water sources is a growing concern.

Professor Qasem acknowledged the energy demands of AI data centers, highlighting their substantial impact on local resources.

“AI data centers are built with thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of GPUs, which require significantly more energy compared to traditional CPU-powered data centers,” said Qasem.

Despite this, during the city council meeting, representatives for the proposed data center reassured the public that the facility would use a closed-loop water cooling system designed to minimize consumption. While this system recycles water, evaporation and the sheer scale of water needed for cooling is a cause of concern for residents.

Executive Director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, Robert Mace, noted that a conventional data center of this size could require around 1.4 million gallons of water per day. That’s roughly 12.5% of San Marcos’ daily water use.

With talks of a second data center in the air, this number could rise to 25%, prompting concerns about the centers long-term sustainability.

San Marcos has been in a severe drought for the past few years, with the city entering stage 4 this past October. As a result, the San Marcos River has experienced low water levels, averaging around 3.5 feet over the past year. Given the water is already in short supply, some may worry that data center demands could add even more strain on the city’s water system.

Along with water usage Mace also mentioned the tremendous amount of energy AI data centers use.

“So, data centers use a lot of energy, and I saw that they are planning to put in eventually a 1.2 Giga Watt power plant on site,” said Mace.  “That’s a lot of, you know, it’s like power equivalent for 750,000 homes.”

Despite the environmental concerns, Qasem highlighted how the project could bring jobs to the city in multiple ways.

“A data center would stimulate the economy. There are going to be jobs created in two phases—during construction, with roles in construction management and related fields, and once the data center is operational, with IT personnel, on-site maintenance, and security staff,” said Qasem.

“However, the actual computer scientists or machine learning experts don’t necessarily have to be here, as those jobs could be remote. But any data center would create some number of jobs, and in that respect, it would be beneficial.”

With CloudBurst’s plans still undefined, residents are left to wonder about the long-term effects of having multiple data centers in San Marcos, particularly regarding infrastructure, resources, and environmental sustainability.

Currently, there are no clear details about CloudBurst’s timeline. For many, clarity on the situation is crucial to ensure that San Marcos can maintain a balance between economic growth and environmental responsibility.

So, as San Marcos moves forward with discussions about the potential development of AI data centers, the city faces important decisions to ensure its resources and infrastructure can support these projects.