diff --git a/templates/backend-pvc.yaml b/templates/backend-pvc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a1327c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/backend-pvc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{{- if .Values.backend.enabled -}}
+{{- if .Values.backend.persistence.enabled -}}
+# tower-data — small PVC backing the OpStore JSON snapshot so the
+# notification bell + Activity history survive tower-backend pod
+# restarts (rollouts, OOMs, node drain). 200 ops × ~2 KB each =
+# ~400 KB at full retention; 1 GiB is plenty of headroom and lets us
+# add other Tower-side state files later (cache, audit log, etc.)
+# without re-provisioning.
+#
+# Single-replica RWO is fine because tower-backend Deployment is
+# single-replica (no leader election yet). When we move to multi-
+# replica or HA Tower, replace with RWX or move state to Postgres.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: tower-data
+  labels:
+    {{- include "tower.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+    odoosky.io/role: backend
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+    - ReadWriteOnce
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: {{ .Values.backend.persistence.size | default "1Gi" }}
+  {{- with .Values.backend.persistence.storageClass }}
+  storageClassName: {{ . | quote }}
+  {{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}