Water Use Category History as of 2026

Water use terminology in the series of USGS Water Use Circulars, first published for the year 1950, has changed over time. Some categories were re-named but retained essentially the same definition, while other changes split existing categories or shifted components of one category to another. The focus of most of these Circulars are water withdrawals from surface-water and groundwater sources. Consumptive use was also estimated from 1960 to 1995, and for several categories for 2010 and 2015. Consumptive use was also estimated for public supply, irrigation and thermoelectric power use in recent estimates ranging from 2000 to 2020.

• Public Supply:
  • In 1950, public supply was estimated as Municipal water use
  • Since 1955, USGS has delivered Public Supply water use estimates
• Irrigation:
  • Since 1950, USGS has delivered Irrigation water use estimates
• Aquaculture:
  • The 1985 release for water use for fish farming was included in the Livestock category.
  • From 1990 to 1995, aquaculture-related water use was reported in Animal Specialties (fish farming) and Commercial (fish hatcheries)
  • Since 2000, Aquaculture has included both fish farming and fish hatcheries
• Livestock:
  • Livestock was included in the 1950-1955 category of Rural, which included self-supply Domestic water use.
  • From 1960 to 1980 Livestock was included in the category of Rural Livestock
  • In the 1985 release, Livestock included water use for fish farming
  • From 1990 to 1995, the Livestock category named “Animal Specialties” included horse and fish farming
• Industrial, Mining, and Commercial:
  • In 1950, Self-supplied Industrial included Thermoelectric, Mining, Commercial, and Industrial water use
  • From 1955 to 1960, Thermoelectric water use was separated out from Other Industrial water use
  • From 1985-2020, Industrial has been estimated as its own category, separate from Mining and Commercial
  • From 1985-1995, Commercial water use was estimated and included fish hatcheries, which was switched to the Aquaculture category beginning in 2000
  • Commercial water use is no longer estimated
• Thermoelectric:
  • In 1950, Self-supplied Industrial included Thermoelectric, Mining, Commercial, and Industrial water use
  • In 1955, Thermoelectric water use was separated out from Other Industrial water use but referred to as Fuel-Electric Power
  • In 1965, Fuel-Electric Power was renamed as Thermoelectric Power
  • From 1955 to 1980, Thermoelectric Power water use was broken down into Condenser-cooled or Other
  • From 1985 to 1995, Thermoelectric Power water use was broken down by fuel type, including Fossil Fuel, Geothermal, or Nuclear
  • Since 2000, Thermoelectric Power water use has been broken down by cooling type, including Once-through Cooling or Closed-loop Cooling
• Hydroelectric:
  • From 1950 to 1995, USGS delivered Hydroelectric water use estimates
  • Hydroelectric water use is no longer estimated
• Wastewater Treatment:
  • In 1985, water treatment was estimated as Sewage Treatment
  • From 1990 to 1995, this category was estimated as Wastewater Treatment
  • Water treatment is no longer estimated

Ancillary data such as population served by public supply, power generated, and irrigated acres has also been included in many of the reports.