On the agenda: Woodstock meeting — data center (Aug 12)

Water Resources Advisory Committee
Agriculture Extenstion Traning Room, Shenandoah County Government Center 600 N Main Street, Suite 100A, Woodstock, Virginia
August 12th, 2026
5:00pm – 6:00pm

AGENDA
1. Welcome and introductions

2. Approve or Amendment of the August 12th, 2026 meeting Agenda
3. Review of the Draft Minutes from the July 8th, 2026 WRAC Meeting
4. Updates:
a. Drought Status
b. Ordinance Update
5. Closing
a. +/Δ
b. Next Meeting: date tbd
c. Adjourn

600 North Main Street, Suite 107 | Woodstock, Virginia 22664 | 540-459-6185

MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE SHENANDOAH WATER RESOURCES ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
July 8th, 2026

The July 8th, 2026 meeting of the Shenandoah County Water Resources Advisory Committee was
held in the Fire & Rescue Training Room, 600 North Main Street, Woodstock, Virginia at 5:00 pm
EST.
WRAC Members present: Gary Lantz, Joan Comanor, Mary Gessner, Vito Gentile.
WRAC Members absent: Mike Ashley, Sam Dinges, and Supervisor Steve Baker, Seth Coffman, Laura
Bennett.
Others Present: Lemuel Hancock Director of Community Development, McKenzie Allen County Planner,
Wes Estep Mount Jackson Public Works, Bobby Clark Extension Agent, Ryan Fitzmaurice NVD, Carl
Patton FNFSR, Michael Shrader FNFSR.
Gary Lantz called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.
1. July Agenda
Joan Comanor made a motion to approve the Agenda. Mary Gessner seconded the motion. All in
favor. This motion carried.
2. March Minutes
The May 13th, 2026 Minutes were reviewed and a motion was made to approve. All in favor. This
motion carried.
3. Public Comment
No comments.
4. Updates
a. Drought Update
i. Bobby Clark provided a groundwater update based on monitoring wells in
Maurertown, Basye, Berryville, and Blandy. The Berryville location was not
experiencing any recovery. He noted that there was a 75% initial hay loss, and
farmers will likely need around 50 days’ worth of hay from other areas.
ii. Carl Patton provided an update on behalf of the Friends of the North Fork and
discussed the drought impacts on recreation in Shenandoah County. Mr. Patton
noted that they monitor precipitation, groundwater, and stream flow.
iii. Wes Estep from the Town of Mount Jackson noted that they currently draw from
wells and that their production has been steady.
5. Other Discussion
a. Mary Gessner stated that WRAC should put together comments for the sections of the Data
Center Ordinance that are related to water resources. It was agreed that WRAC would work
to put together comments.
6. Closing
a. Next meeting August 12th, 2026 at 5:00pm
The meeting was adjourned.
Mission statement of the WRAC: “To inventory and study the water resources of the County and provide recommendations to the Board of Supervisors concerning those resources,
including both water quantity as well as quality”.

DRAFT - 8/4/2026
Dear Chairman Taylor and members of the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors,
On behalf of the Shenandoah County Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC),
we respectfully submit the following recommendations regarding the potential
development and regulation of data centers in Shenandoah County.

T

WRAC's mission is to inventory and study the County's water resources and provide
recommendations to the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors and County staff
concerning both water quantity and water quality. “Shenandoah 2045: A Future
Together”, the County’s recently adopted Comprehensive Plan, similarly recognizes that
water is a finite resource and establishes goals to protect groundwater and surface
water, maintain adequate infrastructure, make water-resource information readily
available and improve emergency resilience.

AF

WRAC is not taking a position on a particular data center proposal or site. Rather, the
Committee recommends that ANY future proposal involving substantial water demand
be evaluated under clear, enforceable and publicly transparent standards. This is
particularly important in a county where rural households, farms, businesses, sanitary
districts and several public systems depend upon groundwater and surface-water
resources that already experience stress during extended dry periods.

R

The Committee recognizes that the County's adopted data-center ordinance provides
an important foundation to protect the County’s important resources. Article XXIII “Data
Center Development” requires applicants to disclose projected annual, monthly, daily,
peak-day and drought-condition water demands; wastewater characteristics; cooling
methods; consumptive losses; reuse and recycling; and water needed for fire
suppression. It also states a preference for either public water service or closed- loop
liquid cooling unless the Board approves an alternative through a special use permit.
The data center ordinance provisions establish an important baseline. WRAC believes
the following additional measures would improve long-term protection of Shenandoah
County's water resources:

D

 Mandate Public Utilities & Utility Capacity Certification: Mandate the use of public
water and sewer utilities rather than merely stating a preference and require
applicants to secure formal utility certification prior to project approval confirming
adequate capacity for normal, peak, fire-flow, and drought demands without
reducing service to existing customers or constraining future community growth.
 Heightened Scrutiny of Groundwater Withdrawals: An industrial or production
well serving a data center should not be approved without an independent
hydrogeologic assessment addressing aquifer characteristics, sustainable yield,
seasonal and drought conditions, cumulative withdrawals, nearby domestic and
agricultural wells, springs, streams and potential groundwater-surface-water
interactions. Baseline monitoring should begin before construction. The applicant

DRAFT - 8/4/2026
should be responsible for the cost of technical review, monitoring and mitigation if
the facility adversely affects an existing water supply.

T

 Require a Water Efficient Design: Cooling systems should employ closed-loop,
air-cooled, hybrid or other best-available water-conservation technology.
Applications should separately quantify withdrawal, consumptive loss, blowdown,
flushing, wastewater discharge and water reuse. Cooling-water additives or byproducts and any required pre-treatment should be disclosed to the applicable
utility and regulatory agencies. Maintenance, flushing and refilling of cooling
systems must be limited to times approved by the appropriate public utilities
(water and sewer).

AF

 Enforce Drought Contingency Plans: The plan should be tied to objective County,
utility or state drought indicators and establish specific operational reductions for
watch, warning and emergency conditions. A large industrial user should
demonstrate how it will curtail water consumption before water shortages affect
domestic users, agriculture, fire protection or essential public services.
 Mandate Monitoring and Public Reporting: Document water use, consumptive
loss and wastewater discharge. Actual water withdrawals, consumptive use and
wastewater discharge should be reported at least monthly to the County and
annually in a public report. The County should retain the authority to require
independent verification when actual operations materially differ from approved
projections.

R

 Evaluate Stormwater and Groundwater Recharge: The water resource
assessment should address impervious cover, infiltration, karst or fracture
geology, stormwater runoff, spill prevention and the loss or displacement of
groundwater-recharge areas. Post-construction monitoring should confirm that
approved practices are functioning as designed.

D

 Support a Regional Groundwater Study: Shenandoah County and neighboring
localities, state agencies and regional partners should pursue funding for a
comprehensive groundwater assessment of the Shenandoah Valley. Similar to
the Commonwealth's recent groundwater assessment in eastern Virginia, this
study would provide the scientific foundation for future land use and water
resource decisions.

WRAC recommends that the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors direct County
staff and the County Attorney to consider these principles in future ordinance
amendments, application-completeness requirements and standard special-use permit
conditions. WRAC also respectfully requests the opportunity to review the water
resource assessment and monitoring plan of a proposed data center and provide
advisory comments before the public hearing to supplement the responsibilities of
County staff, public utilities, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the
Virginia Department of Health and other relevant agencies.

DRAFT - 8/4/2026

The Committee appreciates the Board's consideration and looks forward to continuing
to serve as a technical advisory resource on matters affecting Shenandoah County's
water resources.

D

R

AF

T

Respectfully submitted,