Vermont Water Use
Science Center Objects
Background: The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled the Nation's water-use data at the county, State, and national levels every 5 years since 1950. The most recent estimated water-use compilation was completed in 2015. A summary for Vermont is presented on this web page.
The Issue: Comprehensive water-use data analysis is needed to quantify the stress on existing supplies, particularly during periods when there is increased competition for water (for example, periods of drought).
Approach:
- USGS water-use compilations are one of the few sources of information about national and regional trends in water withdrawals.
- The New England Water Science Center (WSC) collects, reviews, and aggregates water withdrawal data in Vermont from different sources (groundwater and surface water in both fresh and saline settings) as a part of the national effort.
- Our WSC collects site-specific and aggregated water-use information for each county in Vermont.
- The New England WSC complies and estimates water use at the county level for eight water-use categories: thermoelectric, public supply, domestic, livestock, mining, industrial, irrigation, and aquaculture.
Water Issues
Vermont is fortunate to have abundant freshwater resources.
Annual precipitation averages in Vermont place the State in the top half of the wettest States in the United States.
However, as populations have grown (10.6 percent between 1990 and 2015), freshwater resources have come under significant stress in many areas, particularly during periods of drought.
Summary of 2015 Compilation
Core numbers for Vermont are presented in the Results tab.
How Much Water is Used in Vermont?
In 2015, approximately 91 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn from groundwater and surface-water sources in Vermont. Total water withdrawals between 1990 and 2015 are on steady decline (-86 percent).
- Surface water withdrawals totaled 54 Mgal/d (59 % of total)
- Groundwater withdrawals totaled 37 Mgal/d (41 % of total)
- All withdrawn water was a freshwater, there wern't saline water withdrawals.
Vermont Total Water Withdrawals in 2015 by Category (Values in Mgal/day)
- Public Supply—42.7
- Aquaculture—12.0
- Domestic—11.0
- Industrial—11.0
- Livestock—5.9
- Mining—4.6
- Irrigation—3.1
- Thermoelectric—0.8
Vermont Public Water Supply Withdrawals in 2015 by County
VT County | Groundwater (Mgal/d) | Surface Water (Mgal/d) | Total (Mgal/d) |
---|---|---|---|
Addison | 1.75 | 1.7 | 3.45 |
Bennington | 0.98 | 2.32 | 3.3 |
Caledonia | 0.87 | 0.9 | 1.77 |
Chittenden | 0.47 | 13.42 | 13.89 |
Essex | 0.15 | 0.1 | 0.25 |
Franklin | 0.47 | 2.53 | 3 |
Grand Isle | 0.03 | 0.47 | 0.5 |
Lamoille | 1.2 | 0.09 | 1.29 |
Orange | 0.84 | 1.32 | 2.16 |
Orleans | 1.28 | 0.35 | 1.63 |
Rutland | 1.84 | 2.53 | 4.37 |
Washington | 0.61 | 1.24 | 1.85 |
Windham | 0.36 | 1.74 | 2.1 |
Windsor | 3.04 | 0.06 | 3.1 |
Total | 13.89 | 28.77 | 42.66 |