- Amazon is investing $400 million to improve public water systems in Eastern Oregon, supporting our growth and benefiting the public.
- Amazon data centers in Eastern Oregon use water for only 7% of the year.
- Amazon’s water replenishment projects in Eastern Oregon will return or improve 957 million gallons of water a year to the local ecosystem – nearly four times the total water used to cool our data centers in 2025.
Amazon has been operating data centers in Eastern Oregon since 2011. As demand for cloud services and AI grows, Amazon is innovating to ensure our data centers can do more for customers, while using less water. At the same time, we’re investing in local water infrastructure and replenishment projects to help recharge local aquifers, lower reliance on groundwater, and return more water to the region than we use in our data centers.
Designing Data Centers to Use Less Water
Thanks to ongoing innovation in our Eastern Oregon facilities, we use outside air for cooling for 93% of the year. Only on the hottest hours do we use water for cooling. As a result, our standard data center campus (four buildings) in Eastern Oregon uses less than one-quarter of the irrigation water needed for a typical 125-acre crop circle.
This approach has allowed us to grow our operations, while remaining a relatively small fraction of the region’s overall demand. In 2024, all of Amazon’s data center operations in Oregon used approximately 284 million gallons of water, or about 4.6% of the total potable and industrial volume produced by the City of Umatilla, City of Hermiston, and Port of Morrow. Despite continued growth, that number declined to 242 million gallons in 2025.
Why does AI use water?
Improving Public Water Systems
Amazon also works closely with local utilities to improve water systems in the communities where we operate. In Eastern Oregon, Amazon has committed to investing nearly $400 million in local water infrastructure projects to expand water capacity, improve system reliability, and support future growth across the region.
Through these agreements, Amazon provides funding, while local utilities and public entities plan, own, and operate the infrastructure. This ensures projects are designed around regional needs and remain under local public oversight.
Project Spotlight: Columbia River Intake in Umatilla
Amazon funded a new Columbia River Intake in Umatilla, helping to reduce reliance on groundwater for residents and industrial customers and provide non-potable supply to industrial and irrigation customers. The project will initially provide up to 23 cubic feet per second (CFS) of capacity, or 14.8 million gallons daily for the benefit of the whole community. The project will also provide water for the Wanaket Wildlife Area managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to maintain wetlands that serve as habitat local wildlife. Project completion is expected in 2028.
Project Spotlight: Lowering Groundwater Dependence with the Port of Morrow
Amazon funded two new potable water treatment plants for the Port of Morrow. The plants will use Columbia River water, providing the Port with net-new combined capacity totaling 10 billion gallons a year. Amazon will use just 5% of this capacity (455 million gallons) to support current and future data center operations, while the remaining 9.5 billion gallons will serve other Port customers, lowering reliance on groundwater across their 3,600 acres of industrial parks. The project is expected to be completed in 2027.
Replenishing Water in Local Watersheds
In Eastern Oregon, Amazon is also investing in projects that will improve the health of watersheds, return water to local ecosystems, and improve water quality. Collectively, these projects are estimated to return or improve 957 million gallons of water a year. These projects are designed to improve the region’s long-term water resilience and support Amazon’s water positive goal.
Project Spotlight: Increasing Instream Flow in The Columbia River Basin
Amazon collaborated with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore wildlife habitat on Birch Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River, which flows into the Columbia River and provides water to the city of Umatilla in Eastern Oregon. Learn more.
Project Spotlight: Improving irrigation efficiency with the West Extension Irrigation District
Amazon is investing in three irrigation efficiency projects with the West Extension Irrigation District (WEID) in eastern Oregon’s Umatilla and Morrow counties. Learn more.
Looking Ahead
Through investments in water infrastructure, more efficient operations, and replenishment projects that strengthen local watersheds, Amazon is working to support reliable, resilient water systems that support Eastern Oregon’s future.
