SAN MARCOS – No data centers have been built as of yet in the rolling ranchland on either side of the boundary between Hays and Guadalupe counties, about 9 miles south of San Marcos and 5 miles east of Interstate 35. But investors have drawn up plans to turn that quiet stretch of cattle country into a computing cluster along the lines of San Antonio’s far West Side.
At least five data centers have been proposed on or near York Creek, a tributary to the San Marcos River, according to public records and research conducted by a network of activists and residents who say the projects would strain the area’s water supply.
On Wednesday, the extent of that opposition was on display at a board meeting of the Crystal Clear Special Utility District, an area water utility. An Austin-based company named Palomino Alpha LLC is asking the district to supply half a million gallons of water a day – enough to service 1,667 residential homes – for a 940-acre data center to be built beside an electrical substation on Texas 123, along York Creek…