Gallup data center proposal sparks water, notice concerns in Apache County

A proposed 330-acre data center on Gallup’s eastern edge would tie up nearly 110 million gallons of wastewater each year, a scale that has put water access, public notice and promised jobs under a sharp spotlight for Apache County and eastern Navajo communities.

The Gallup City Council delayed action on the wastewater agreement in a 4-1 vote on April 28, after the item came up two hours into the meeting. The deal would send wastewater to the proposed site in the Gallup Tradeport area, where Teraplex Data Centers LLC is seeking industrial and commercial uses. Gallup’s wastewater plant currently produces an average of 2.33 million gallons of treated effluent a day, so the proposed agreement represents roughly 301,000 gallons a day, or about 13% of the city’s average daily output.

Greg Thompson, identified as Teraplex’s co-founder, told council members the project could attract a tenant such as Oracle, Meta, Amazon or Microsoft. He said the facility would generate its own electricity through a mix of solar power and natural gas and would employ about 300 people once built. Public materials describe Teraplex as a modular data center and power infrastructure company focused on AI computing, integrated power systems and factory-built infrastructure.

Outside the council chambers, protesters including Brandy Laughter, vice chair of the Democratic Party of McKinley County, and Toni Pinedo, an Indigenous activist and Gallup resident, raised objections as the vote was pushed back. Their concerns centered on water use and on whether Navajo communities and other residents received meaningful notice before the project advanced.

That concern lands in a region already built around long-term water planning. The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project was authorized in 2009 to provide a reliable municipal and industrial water supply to the eastern Navajo Nation, the southwestern Jicarilla Apache Nation and Gallup. The Bureau of Reclamation says construction on the San Juan Lateral is expected to be completed in 2028. Regional planning materials say the project is designed to meet future needs for about 250,000 people by 2040 and to deliver 37,764 acre-feet of water annually, with the eastern branch diverting about 4,645 acre-feet a year and sending no return flow to the San Juan River.

In 2025, the project received $120 million in federal funding for the next year, but more congressional approvals were still needed. Sen. Ben Ray Luján warned that if funding does not keep moving, Gallup could be left with a dwindling groundwater supply. For Apache County readers, that makes the data center fight more than a city zoning debate: it is a test of how scarce water, tribal consultation and industrial growth will be balanced before the region locks in its next major user.