While semiconductor manufacturing is a minor user of the world's total water supply, its impact on specific regions can be significant. For example, Intel Rio Rancho is the largest water user in the Bernalillo water district of New Mexico, even though its annual water draw is only about the same as 16 golf courses. Semiconductor manufacturers in many locations are being denied requests for the additional water needed to support plans for expanding production or even to build a new fab at a site where it will become a dominant water user. The message to semiconductor manufacturers is to use less water per unit product output, notwithstanding the well-understood fact that semiconductor manufacturing already returns much higher product value per unit of water used than virtually any other human activity. Approval for plant expansion often comes with the stipulation that water demand from the regional supply remains the same as prior to expansion.
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