Water Use in the United States
Science Center Objects
The USGS works in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies to collect water-use information, then compiles these data to produce water-use information aggregated at the county, state, and national levels. Every five years, data at the county level are compiled into a national water-use data system and State-level data are published in a national circular, Estimated Use of Water in the United States.
The National Water Use Science Project, part of the National Water Census, is responsible for compiling and disseminating the nation's water-use data. The USGS Water-Use Data and Research program seeks to develop improved water-use data through agreements with State water-resources agencies.
••• WATER USE HOME • TOTAL WATER USE • SURFACE WATER USE • GROUNDWATER USE • TRENDS •••
Public Supply • Domestic • Irrigation • Thermoelectric Power • Industrial • Mining • Livestock • Aquaculture
Water Use Categories
See how water-use categories have changed since the USGS water-use circulars were first published in 1950.
The eight water-use categories included in the National Water-Use Science Project: public supply, domestic, irrigation, thermoelectric power, self-supplied industrial, mining, livestock, and aquaculture.
Overviews
- Estimated total water use for all categories and sources by State
- Water-use estimates for groundwater and surface water by State.
- Trends: How water use is changing over time, starting with the initial USGS estimates for 1950.
Additional information: Publications • Water-use category changes over time • Water-use terminology
Water Availability and Use Science Program: National Water Census
The USGS National Water Census (NWC) is designed to systematically provide information that will allow resource managers to assess the supply, use, and availability of the Nation’s water. The goal of the NWC is to provide nationally-consistent base layers of well-documented data that account for water availability and use nationally.
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Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveTotal Water Use
The USGS has estimated water use for the United States every 5 years since 1950. Estimates are provided for groundwater and surface-water sources, for fresh and saline water quality, and by sector or category of use. Estimates have been made at the State level since 1950, and at the county level since 1985. Water-use estimates by watershed were made from 1950 through 1995, first at the water-...
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveTrends in Water Use
Total withdrawals for all categories of use in 2015 were estimated to be 322 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), a level of withdrawal not reported since before 1970. Total withdrawals in 2015 were 9 percent less than in 2010, continuing a sharp but steady downward trend since 2005. Freshwater withdrawals were also 9 percent less than in 2015.
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveSurface-Water Use
Surface-water sources include streams and rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and oceans. For the purposes of the USGS water-use reports, surface water with less than 1,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of dissolved solids is considered freshwater, and the remainder is considered saline.
Surface-water resources are often evaluated by watershed. The most recent USGS water-use estimates by...
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: March 3, 2019Status: ActiveGroundwater Use
Groundwater refers to all subsurface water, specifically that part of groundwater which is in the saturated zone. Groundwater sources are called aquifers: geologic formations that contain sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs. For the purposes of the USGS water-use reports, groundwater with less than 1,000 milligrams per liter (mg...
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: February 27, 2019Status: ActiveWater-Use Terminology
The following terms have been used in one or more of the water-use publications. The ...
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: February 22, 2019Status: Active
State Contacts for Water-Use Data
Water-use data is compiled for each of the United States as well as for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The list below contains a link to the USGS water-use site for each entity, if one exists, as well as the point of contact for State-level information.
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program -
Date published: February 22, 2019Status: Active
The National Water-Use Science Project
The U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Use Science Project (formerly the National Water-Use Information Program) is responsible for compiling and disseminating the nation's water-use data. Established by USGS in 1978, the USGS National Water-Use Science Project built on the legacy of the Estimated Use of Water in the United States report series, begun in 1950 and produced...
Contacts: National Water-Use Science ProjectAttribution: Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program
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Year Published: 2018Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015
Water use in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be about 322 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 9 percent less than in 2010. The 2015 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970, following the same overall trend of decreasing total withdrawals observed from 2005 to 2010. Freshwater withdrawals were 281...
Dieter, Cheryl A.; Maupin, Molly A.; Caldwell, Rodney R.; Harris, Melissa A.; Ivahnenko, Tamara I.; Lovelace, John K.; Barber, Nancy L.; Linsey, Kristin S.Attribution: Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Water Resources, Water Availability and Use Science Program, United States of America, Water Science SchoolView CitationDieter, C.A., Maupin, M.A., Caldwell, R.R., Harris, M.A., Ivahnenko, T.I., Lovelace, J.K., Barber, N.L., and Linsey, K.S., 2018, Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1441, 65 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1441. [Supersedes USGS Open-File Report 2017–1131.]
Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2015
A total of 322 Bgal/d of water withdrawals was reported for eight categories of use in the United States in 2015, which was 9 percent less than in 2010 (354 Bgal/d), and continued a declining trend since 2005. The decline in total withdrawals in 2015 primarily was caused by significant decreases (28.8 Bgal/d) in thermoelectric power, which...
Maupin, Molly A.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010
Water use in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be about 355 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 13 percent less than in 2005. The 2010 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970. Freshwater withdrawals were 306 Bgal/d, or 86 percent of total withdrawals, and saline-water withdrawals were 48.3 Bgal/d, or...
Maupin, Molly A.; Kenny, Joan F.; Hutson, Susan S.; Lovelace, John K.; Barber, Nancy L.; Linsey, Kristin S.
Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2010
About 355,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn for use in the United States during 2010, a decline of 13 percent from 2005 and a substantial change from the level of about 400,000 Mgal/d reported from 1985 to 2005. Withdrawals for 2010 were lower than withdrawals estimated for 1970. Fresh surface-water withdrawals (230,000...
Barber, Nancy L.
Withdrawal and consumption of water by thermoelectric power plants in the United States, 2010
Estimates of water use at thermoelectric plants were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey based on linked heat and water budgets, and complement reported thermoelectric water withdrawals and consumption. The heat- and water-budget models produced withdrawal and consumption estimates, including thermodynamically plausible ranges of minimum and...
Diehl, Timothy H.; Harris, Melissa A.
Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2005
About 410,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn for use in the United States during 2005. About 80 percent of the total (328,000 Mgal/d) withdrawal was from surface water, and about 82 percent of the surface water withdrawn was freshwater. The remaining 20 percent (82,600 Mgal/d) was withdrawn from groundwater, of which about...
Barber, Nancy L.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2005
Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 410 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d) were withdrawn in 2005 for all categories summarized in this report. This total is slightly less than the estimate for 2000, and about 5 percent less than total withdrawals in the peak year of 1980. Freshwater withdrawals in 2005 were 349 Bgal/d,...
Kenny, Joan F.; Barber, Nancy L.; Hutson, Susan S.; Linsey, Kristin S.; Lovelace, John K.; Maupin, Molly A.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2000
Lumia, Deborah S.; Linsey, Kristin S.; Barber, Nancy L.
Estimated withdrawals from principal aquifers in the United States, 2000
Fresh ground-water withdrawals from 66 principal aquifers in the United States were estimated for irrigation, public-supply, and self-supplied industrial water uses for the year 2000. Total ground-water withdrawals were 76,500 million gallons per day, or 85,800 thousand acre-feet per year for these three uses. Irrigation used the largest amount of...
Maupin, Molly A.; Barber, Nancy L. Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000
Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 408 billion gallons per day (one thousand million gallons per day, abbreviated Bgal/d) were withdrawn for all uses during 2000. This total has varied less than 3 percent since 1985 as withdrawals have stabilized for the two largest uses?thermoelectric power and irrigation. Fresh...
Hutson, Susan S.; Barber, Nancy L.; Kenny, Joan F.; Linsey, Kristin S.; Lumia, Deborah S.; Maupin, Molly A.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 1995
The purpose of this report is to present consistent and current water-use estimates by state and water-resources region for the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. Estimates of water withdrawn from surface- and ground-water sources, estimates of consumptive use, and estimates of instream use and...
Solley, Wayne B.; Pierce, Robert R.; Perlman, Howard A.
Estimated use of water in the United States in 1990
Water withdrawals in the United States during 1990 were estimated to average 408,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of freshwater and saline water for offstream uses--2 percent more than the 1985 estimate. Total freshwater withdrawals were an estimated 339,000 Mgal/d during 1990, about the same as during 1985. Average per-capita use for all...
Solley, Wayne B.; Pierce, Robert R.; Perlman, Howard A.
Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 1985
Water withdrawals in the United States during 1985 were estimated to average 399,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of freshwater and saline water for offstream uses--10 percent less than the 1980 estimate. Average per-capita use for all offstream uses was 1,650 gallons per day (gal/d) of freshwater and saline water combined and 1,400 gal/d of...
Solley, Wayne B.; Merk, Charles F.; Pierce, Robert R.
Water-use data available from USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey compiles water-use estimates every five years for each State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Archived datasets underlying the published "Estimated Use of Water in the United States" reports are available from the above link. County data incorporating any revisions can be found on ...
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Date published: January 1, 2018Estimated Use of Water in the United States County-Level Data for 2015
This dataset contains water-use estimates for 2015 that are aggregated to the county level in the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS's) National Water Use Science Project is responsible for compiling and disseminating the Nation's water-use data. Working in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, the USGS has published an estimate of water use in the
Attribution: Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center