TOM GREEN CO., TX – While the City of San Angelo is working to regulate proposed data centers, other developers have turned to the areas beyond city control.
Like many rural spots in Texas, opposition to the ongoing wave of proposed data center developments is growing in Tom Green and Irion counties, particularly along Spring Creek, a spring-fed tributary of the Concho River.
The Handbook of Texas History says of Knickerbocker: “In 1990 it had a post office, a general store, Catholic and Protestant churches, and a population of fifty. The population remained the same in 2000.”
Settlements like this dot the maps in rural Texas; some spot that was once home to a few settlers and a hub for the farmers and ranchers in the area.
Tonight, it serves as the central gathering place for about 30 concerned citizens of Tom Green and Irion counties. Down the road a few miles, off of Farm-to-Market Road 2335, plans for a massive data center are likely moving forward.
A project they worry might quickly become a blight on the area.
Big Business is King in Texas
On April 16, 2026, representatives of Beacon Data Centers, along with their San Angelo associates from the Attinger Group, made their proposal known to the residents of Dove Creek, and the surrounding towns of Mertzon and Christoval – along with many residents who live around the area.
At this initial meeting with a few hundred in attendance, public reaction ranged from cautious inquiry to fiery argumentation. Joseph Shovelin and Mark Attinger fielded questions, but were only able to give preliminary answers.
One early question that arose was about noise from the construction and from the future facility, with one resident asking for specific answers, pressing Beacon Vice President Joseph Shovlin on the results of noise studies.
“We were trying to intend this to be a more non-technical session,” Shovlin said, a line that seemed to make the meeting take a left turn, with most who went on to ask questions expressing frustration about the non-technicality of the presentation.
The representatives did not put the attendees at peace about their exploration, explaining their reasons for selecting the property, and clarifying that the reason the property was selected was because of its size, and its access to a water source, namely the “river,” meaning Spring Creek.
The presence of U.S. Highway 67, and the east/west rail line neighboring the site were named as additional benefits.
Another reason for this spot being an attractive location for a data center choice, though it was not talked about as much at this April meeting, is the presence of high voltage transmission infrastructure that runs across the area, something that has become another source of friction between locals and state planners in recent months.
Over the course of the meeting, as residents pressed on the water issue, Shovelin theorized about alternative water sources, but the crowd seemed opposed to any intervention. He said later in the meeting that Beacon would be seriously considering cooling options that use no water at all.
Both Shovlin and Attinger maintained that this meeting was preliminary, saying that land deals had not been finalized. And that further tests and studies would be underway soon.
A Data Center Beside Foster Park
The property in question crosses Spring Creek, which flows from its natural source in Irion County into Tom Green, along with storm flows from north and west of Barnhart during flood events.
From headwaters three miles south of Mertzon, the artesian flow that creates Spring Creek has been a constant flowing source of fresh water in an arid land for natives going back almost 10,000 years, according to Gunnar Brune’s 1975 publication for the Texas Water Development Board titled “Major and Historical Springs of Texas.”
Since regular flow measurements began in the last century, the spring has varied from year to year, with discharge rates somewhere between 13 cubic-feet per second, to as low as 4.5 cubic-feet per second in some years, but it has never ceased.
Spring Creek is impounded in a series of reservoirs used for agricultural irrigation and recreation, and by the time reaches Tom Green County, the flow has diminished dramatically.
Over the dams that lie upstream from Foster Park, a few hundred gallons per minute trickle along different channels.
Directly above and below the proposed data center location, the riverbed is frequently too shallow or narrow to pass a boat through, especially in dry months.
During spring and fall rains, the channel serves as natural drainage for a sizeable valley, which comingles with Dove Creek and the Middle Concho before being directed into the North Pool of Twin Buttes Reservoir.
It’s natural flooding boundaries are mapped by FEMA, extending up the banks several hundred yards.
Knickerbocker Meeting
To start the meeting, everybody in attendance introduced themselves. Educators, farmers, pumpers.
There were people of all ages and demographics, from young parents to retirees. .
“My wife and I moved out here in 2004,” said one Dove Creek resident. “And moved here for all the reasons most people did. For the quiet, for the dark skies at night, to see the stars. Less traffic than in town. And I just hate to see any of that going away.”
The concerns raised came from every direction.
Questions Centered on Regulation
As a rural development, water is supplied by local wells that feed a water tower in Dove Creek, and most properties have shallow wells to supply agriculture operations and others. These wells might range from 25- to 100-feet deep depending on proximity to the nearest creek.
Dan Farmer, a retired pumper who lives nearby, spoke after the meeting to the Concho Observer, expressing his biggest worries:
“What I’m concerned about is the people right there on the road. Many I know with school age kids learning to drive. And that just scared the hell out of me thinking about learning to drive on that highway, especially if you have a data center.”
This echoed one aspect of the potential development that troubled residents the most, building up the area into a potentially bustling industrial park.
These sentiments were reflected by several Tom Green County Commissioners in the days following the April meeting.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Shawn Nanny delivering a statement after the April 16 meeting, in which he encouraged the potential developers to listen to residents and “find somewhere else to build…and leave us the hell alone.”
At commissioner’s court, Nanny introduced a resolution requesting action from the Texas legislature. The resolution called for “enhanced regulation of data centers in the State of Texas.” The motion passed, with county judge Lane Carter adding that the location of the Beacon proposal was “not ideal.”
For the most part, counties in Texas have little power to regulate private land use. Should the Data Center seek tax abatements from the county, conditions for use could be set as part of the abatement.
Underlying Issues
Throughout the meeting, a major point of concern was areas of public works that have been neglected for years.
U.S. Highway 67, consists of only two lanes in many sections, widening to three and four lanes for passing along the major sections. In the early morning hours, between 6 and 7 a.m. especially, the roads become crowded in a combination of commuters, oil field commercial traffic, and parents dropping kids off for school.
A problem certainly not unique to this project, but one that just about anyone who lives in Texas would identify with. Hundreds of two-lane highways in a four-lane world.
Water Rights and “Right of Capture”
“The problem is that with private land, and private water, you can’t tell them what to do,” Farmer said during the meeting in Knickerbocker. “What you can do is regulate the hell out of the industry, and that’s what they’ll have to do.
“Right to capture means we can’t do anything about it.”
San Angelo has proposed amending it’s utility ordinance to cap data center water usage on a tri-annual basis, allowing proposed centers to only draw on the cities water once every three years, and requiring that the center use a maximum of 15 gallons per square foot of developed structure.
But out in the county, things are different. Leon Braden of the Lipan-Kickapoo water conservation district explained to the Concho Observer that Texas’ mineral rights dictate that a property owner has “right of capture.”
“That means a land-owner can pump up to 25,000 gallons per day without a permit,” he said. “Those are non-permitted wells, anyone can drill them, though there are space requirements.
“When you go above that then it becomes a permitted well, it becomes a high production well.”
In that event, the local authorities would monitor the location to make sure that the development complied with its permit. In the event of a development misusing its water rights, thats when the state would get involved.
“We handle things locally but then if we can’t get it resolved we would go on to TCEQ,” Braden said.
“We need the truth going around, not rumors. Theres lots of talk tied to this data center thing, there’s a lot of information floating around but we need true information, and facts. Then we can go from there,” he added.
Going Forward
Residents are searching for answers, and getting in contact with their representatives. This will likely be the first year in a multi-year development process.
Many proposed data centers in Texas are currently stymied on the state level, where the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) must approve the infrastructure for the multi gigawatt power transmission required; the 765 kilovolt transmission lines that would connect East to West Texas electrically. This means we might not see many more major moves until final approval of plans to expand power transmission from Bell County to the Permian Basin.
For now, residents are going to continue meeting regularly, and communicating with Beacon Data Center’s developer locally, the Attinger Group, who is in correspondence with the group.
With midterms elections looming, the eyes of rural Texas have turned to Austin, waiting to see what the “Texas Miracle” of high finance and tech development has in store for their part of the world.
