By Alex Johnson, Director of Communications
Conservation experts discussed timely issues like HOAs, Advanced Metering infrastructure, data centers and water loss during the recent 19th Annual North Texas Water Conservation Symposium in Coppell, Texas. Sponsored by North Texas’s major water providers, the event focuses on collaborating with stakeholders to bring innovation and education to regional water conservation efforts. Here are three key takeaways from the conference.
Note: For more information, view the presentations from the symposium.
Takeaway #1: HOAs can be key regional partners for water conservation.
Homeowners' associations can play a significant role in collaborating with cities and water providers in North Texas water conservation efforts.
There are more than 15,000 HOAs in North Texas, according to Mark Norton, Director of Management Operations at Insight Association Management, a large HOA management company based in Richardson. He went on to explain that HOAs are often responsible for maintaining large swaths of common area landscaping, and landscaping costs often account for between 30 and 50 percent of HOAs’ budgets, not including the cost of water.
In addition, HOAs set rules that govern homeowners’ landscaping standards, through both legally-binding covenants, codes, and restrictions, as well as through less formal landscaping guidelines. Educating HOA leaders and residents on water conservation best practices is important because many homeowners are not experts on irrigation systems or how to efficiently water their lawns.
Marisa Bruno of the Hill Country Alliance highlighted a key education initiative spearheaded by her nonprofit to educate homeowners on conservation best practices. The group has found that working with HOAs to update or develop water-wise landscaping guidelines offers a productive avenue to encourage stronger water conservation in Central Texas.
NTMWD is incorporating HOA outreach and education in its water conservation strategy and is developing materials and programming to help HOAs reduce their water use. During the 2025 fiscal year, NTMWD tested the concept of irrigation efficiency evaluations for HOAs. Seven large HOAs participated in the pilot, which included reviews of irrigation systems across their common spaces.
The pilot program showed that more than 8 million gallons of water per year could be conserved if the participating HOAs made basic irrigation repairs and optimized their irrigation systems’ run times. The water savings realized through the improvements would quickly offset the HOAs' repair costs through reduced water bills. NTMWD’s conservation team is exploring expanding this program in 2026.
Takeaway #2: Advanced Metering Infrastructure can help cities educate their residents about water conservation.
Panelists from the Cities of Allen, Celina and Fort Worth discussed the benefits of AMI for water conservation, including the technology’s application for leak detection and enforcement of watering days.
Chris Cox, Assistant Director of Public Works for the City of Celina, highlighted the city’s use of AMI to help educate residents about following the City’s watering schedule. The City’s AMI system automatically flags addresses where residents water on non-watering days. City staff then follow up with educational door hangers or water violation flags that include a QR code with links to water conservation resources on the City’s website.
From 2024 to 2025, the number of water meters in Celina increased by more than 2,500, but the City’s maximum daily water usage and average daily water demand dropped slightly. The reduction in demand illustrates the success of an education-first approach, where fines are used as a last resort.
Takeaway #3: The amount of water used by data centers can vary, but their demand for water is increasing across Texas.
As more data centers locate their operations in Texas, municipalities are working to understand their power and water use. Dr. Margaret Cook of the Houston Advanced Research Center explained how data centers could have large local impacts to communities.
Data centers currently use about 0.8 percent of the state’s water supplies, based on 2020 estimated water demands for the state, according to data from HARC. By 2030, data centers could be using anywhere between 29 and 161 billion gallons of water per year, or up to 2.7 percent of the state’s overall water demands.
Cook said that a variety of factors influence data centers’ water use, including the type of cooling equipment used by the data center. Cities in NTMWD’s service area evaluating the potential data center developments are encouraged to reach out to the District’s planning team for more information.
As the demand for water continues to grow across North Texas, it remains vital for water providers to work together not only to secure future water supplies but also to form partnerships with cities and commercial entities to conserve the water we already have. Collaborating and sharing information about the efficacy of conservation initiatives across water providers strengthens each organization’s efforts.