How much water was used in New England in 2015?

The USGS 2015 water-use compilation estimated that total water withdrawals in New England were 6,413 million gallons of water per day (Mgal/day).

• Surface water withdrawals totaled  5,671 Mgal/d (88 % of total) 
• Groundwater withdrawals totaled 742 Mgal/d (12 % of total)
• Freshwater withdrawals were 2,375 Mgal/d (37 % of total)
• Saline water withdrawals were 4,038 Mgal/d (63 % of total)

Water Withdrawals by State

Estimates by State and percentages of total New England water withdrawals:

• Connecticut - 3,128 Mgal/day (49%)
• Massachusetts - 1,406 Mgal/day (22%)
• New Hampshire - 935 Mgal/day (15%)
• Maine - 509 Mgal/day (8%)
• Rhode Island - 344 Mgal/day (5%)
• Vermont - 91 Mgal/day (1%)

Water Withdrawals by Water Use Category

Estimates by category and percentages of total New England water withdrawals:

• Thermoelectric Power - 4,209 Mgal/day (65.6%) 
• Public Supply - 1,209 Mgal/day (18.9%)
• Self-Supplied Industrial - 501 Mgal/day (7.8%)
• Irrigation - 181 Mgal/day (2.8%)
• Self-Supplied Domestic - 145 Mgal/day (2.3%)
• Aquaculture - 123 Mgal/day (1.9%)
• Mining - 34 Mgal/day (0.5%)
• Livestock - 11 Mgal/day (0.2%)

Population on Public vs Self-Supplied Water

Eighty percent of the New England population relies on publicly supplied water and 20% uses self-supplied water.

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