Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) broke ground this month on a reclamation plant to reuse "nearly every drop of water" at its massive north Phoenix manufacturing complex, the company announced yesterday.

Why it matters: Water is a precious commodity in the Valley, and TSMC began operations in Phoenix at a time when the Colorado River basin is in a long-term "megadrought."

• Semiconductor manufacturing consumes a significant amount of water.

State of play: TSMC's planned 15-acre Industrial Reclamation Water Plant will support its first two manufacturing facilities, known as fabs, and is expected to be operational in 2028, the company said.

• TSMC can expand the plant to accommodate additional fabs.

By the numbers: When the three Phoenix fabs are completed, they're projected to use a combined 16.4 million gallons of water daily, the Arizona Republic reported last year.

• But due to the company's water reuse and recycling efforts, the city will have to provide only about 4.2 million gallons.

Zoom in: The plant will convert industrial wastewater into "ultrapure" water to wash microscopic particles from the silicon disks used to make computer chips.

• TSMC's fabs also require water for cooling towers and pollution-controlling devices called scrubbers, in addition to standard usage for any industrial complex.
• The plant is expected to reach an 85% recycling rate when operations begin, and TSMC plans to expand that to 90% or higher.
• The Phoenix plant is partly modeled on TSMC's water reclamation facilities in Taiwan, but it also has unique elements due to higher levels of magnesium and calcium in Phoenix water.

The latest: The first fab uses about 4.75 million gallons daily, 65% of which is recycled water, the company said.

Catch up quick: Chip production began at the company's first fab in late 2024.

• A second fab was completed in April, with production slated to begin in 2028, though the company is looking to accelerate that timeline.
• Construction began on a third fab in April.

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👀 Phoenix Union High School District alleged that state Rep. Lydia Hernandez (D-Phoenix) and another woman, believed to be her adult daughter, attempted to bring a box cutter through a weapons detection system at Maryvale High School, where a student was stabbed to death last week. (ABC15)

• The district said the other woman brought a bag containing the box cutter through security while Hernandez recorded it on her cell phone. Hernandez told district staff she was testing the weapon detection system, according to the district.
• Hernandez told ABC15 she wasn't testing the system, wasn't aware of a box cutter, didn't record the incident and wasn't with her daughter, calling the district's statement "ridiculous."

💸 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is threatening to pull federal funding from 40 states, including Arizona, over what it terms "gender ideology" in sex education programs. Arizona is at risk of losing $3 million in Personal Responsibility Education Program grant funding. (AZcentral)

⚖️ A couple pleaded guilty to felony charges after defrauding the school voucher-style Empowerment Scholarship Account program. The AG's Office said it received more $110,000 in education funding by creating "ghost" children who didn't exist. (12 News)

🏀 Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas set a new WNBA record with her seventh triple-double of the season on Tuesday. (ESPN)

Arizona's unemployment rate is slightly better than the nation as a whole, though signs point to slowing in job growth.

Why it matters: Americans are feeling almost as gloomy about the job market as they did during the Great Recession — and entry-level workers are having an especially hard time getting their foot in the door.

By the numbers: Arizona's unemployment rate in July was 4.1%, a shade under the national rate of 4.2%.

• The Arizona rate remained unchanged from the previous month, per the state's Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO).

Yes, but: Arizona has had three consecutive months of seasonally adjusted job losses, including 4,900 in July, according to OEO.

Between the lines: From July 2024 to July 2025, Arizona ranked 26th in job creation with 1.1% growth, OEO labor market information director Doug Walls tells Axios.

• Year-to-date, he said, Arizona has added 5,200 seasonally adjusted jobs.
• "We still see overall slowing growth, but still positive," Walls said.

Zoom out: South Dakota (1.9% unemployment); North Dakota (2.5%) and Vermont (2.6%) had July's lowest unemployment rates, based on preliminary and seasonally-adjusted BLS data out Tuesday.

• Washington, D.C. (6%), California (5.5%) and Nevada (5.4%) had the highest.

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