Hut 8, owner of the proposed River Bend AI data center, has agreed to pay $16 million for the expansion of local water system capacity in West Feliciana Parish. The River Bend campus is part of Hut 8’s broader North American energy and digital infrastructure platform, which supports AI and other high-performance computing operations.
At its West Feliciana campus, Hut 8 will develop and deliver at least 245 megawatts—and potentially more than 1,000 megawatts—of data center capacity for Anthropic, best known for its Claude family of AI chatbots, using high-performance computing clusters operated by Fluidstack. The campus will utilize a closed-loop cooling system designed to reduce long-term water demand. The project will rely on water sources outside the residential aquifer and is not expected to impact the local residential water supply.
The infrastructure investment includes construction of a new water well, roughly 8 miles of water main and other system upgrades that will be transferred to the parish upon completion at no cost to taxpayers. Construction on the water infrastructure improvements is expected to wrap up in the second half of 2026.
According to Hut 8, the upgrades are expected to improve water system capacity and reliability parishwide, potentially benefiting more than 4,000 households and more than 200 employer establishments.
The investment comes as Louisiana continues broader efforts to modernize aging water infrastructure through initiatives such as the state’s $750 million Water Sector Program, which was created to help fund repairs and upgrades to community water systems.
The first phase of the campus represents an investment of up to $10 billion, according to LED and is expected to support roughly 1,000 construction jobs at peak and create at least 75 direct new jobs once operations begin.
“This is a real investment in the infrastructure our parish needs,” West Feliciana Parish President Kenny Havard said in a statement. “It will strengthen our water system and expand service in areas that need it most without adding cost for our residents.”
