The Texas A&M Board of Regents voted to approve a $14.2 million water well system for the RELLIS campus during the Nov. 12 meeting ahead of projected water demand from the Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute.
At a glance
According to a news release, the project is part of the larger $205.5 million institute project set to begin construction at the end of the year. As previously reported by Community Impact, the semiconductor manufacturing facility broke ground in April.
The new water system will be important for manufacturing, as the RELLIS campus currently relies on the water system once used by Bryan Air Force Base, according to the RELLIS website.
The new water system is expected to:
Store up to 500,000 gallons
Pump up to 2,800 gallons per minute
Feed into the one-million-gallon water tower, approved by regents in September
Chairman Regent Robert Albritton said students and companies will be collaborating at the RELLIS campus and water will be critical for its infrastructure.
“Every one of those labs and classrooms needs water,” Albritton said. “This board would rather build for the next 20 years today than keep patching a system built for an Army airfield.”
Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar said every classroom and research lab will depend on the water well, even if it isn’t a tourist attraction.
“Getting this right now means our students and researchers at RELLIS have room to grow for the next 20 years,” Hegar said.
Stay tuned
The release stated the water well system is scheduled for completion in March 2028, two months before the institute is expected to move into the new facility. The facility will make chips for computers, phones, cars and other pieces of technology.
