Scope
Fort Worth's Installation Policy and Design Criteria for Water, Wastewater and Reclaimed Water Infrastructure, Revision 1, approved by Mayor and Council Communication 26-0659 on 11 August 2026, requires data center developments to obtain a Non-Significant Industrial User wastewater permit, and its water-demand criteria state that data centers must use a closed-loop cooling system. It is a city infrastructure design manual, not a zoning ordinance or permit pause.
- Geographic scope
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- City of Fort Worth
Dates
- Adopted
- 11 August 2026
- Effective
- 11 August 2026
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- The design criteria state no expiration.
- Source document
- 11 August 2026
- Last checked
- 23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
Fort Worth's revised water and wastewater design criteria, effective 11 August 2026, require data center developments to obtain a Non-Significant Industrial User permit for discharges to the city wastewater system. The criteria's water-demand section says data centers must use a closed-loop cooling system. The manual governs city water infrastructure design and does not pause or approve any data center project.
What this does not establish
- The closed-loop cooling sentence sits inside the water-demand sizing method, not in a separate rule.
- A separate Fort Worth council action on a data center moratorium was not recorded.
Unresolved questions
None recorded.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/files/assets/public/v/5/water/documents/developers/installation-policy-design-criteria-water-wastewater-reclaimed-water.pdf