Surface Water Use in the United States
Science Center Objects
The Nation's surface-water resources—the water in the nation's rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs—are vitally important to our everyday life.
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Surface water serves many purposes
The main uses of surface water include drinking-water and other public uses, irrigation uses, and for use by the thermoelectric-power industry to cool electricity-generating equipment. The majority of water used for thermoelectric power, public supply, irrigation, mining, and industrial purposes came from surface-water sources. Of all the water used in the United States in 2015 (about 322,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), fresh and saline), about 74 percent (237,000 Mgal/d) came from surface-water sources. (All 2015 water use information is from the report Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015.) Water from groundwater sources accounted for the remaining 26 percent.
About 70 percent of the freshwater used in the United States in 2015 came from surface-water sources. The other 30 percent came from groundwater. Surface water is an important natural resource used for many purposes, especially irrigation and public supply (supplying people with drinking water and for everyday uses).
Surface-water use, by category of use, 2015
Source and Use of Freshwater in the United States, 2015. This diagram uses a "cylinder and pipe" layout to show the source (surface water or groundwater) of the Nation's freshwater and for what purposes the water was used in 2015. The data are broken out for each category of use by surface water and groundwater as the source.
Data are rounded and are reported in million gallons per day (Mgal/d).
The top row of cylinders represents where America's freshwater came from (source) in 2015, either from surface water (blue) or from groundwater (brown). You can see most of the water we use came from surface-water sources, such as rivers and lakes. About 26 percent of water used came from groundwater. The pipes leading out of the surface-water and groundwater cylinders on the top row and flowing into the bottom rows of cylinders (green) show the categories of water use where the water was sent after being withdrawn from a river, lake, reservoir, or well.
For example, the blue pipe coming out of the surface-water cylinder and entering the public supply cylinder shows that 23,800 Mgal/d of water was withdrawn from surface-water sources for public-supply uses (you probably get your water this way). Likewise, the brown pipe shows that public-suppliers withdrew another 15,200 Mgal/d of water from groundwater sources.
Each green cylinder represents a category of water use. The industrial cylinder, for instance, shows how much groundwater, surface water, and total water was used inthe United States, each day, by industries.
You can see that although the Nation uses much more surface water than groundwater, groundwater has significant importance for some of the categories. Almost all self-supplied domestic water came from groundwater; over 40 percent of irrigation water was groundwater; and more groundwater than surface water was used for livestock purposes.
Surface-water use, by state, 2015
Trends in surface-water withdrawals, 1950-2015
Source: Estimated Water Use in the United States in 2015
Water Use Information by Topic
Water is everywhere, which is fortunate for all of humanity, as water is essential for life. Even though water is not always available in the needed quantity and quality for all people everywhere, people have learned to get and use water for all of their water needs, from drinking, cleaning, irrigating crops, producing electricity, and for just having fun.
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Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedTrends in Water Use in the United States, 1950 to 2015
How has America's water use changed over the last 65 years? Are we using more or less water, and are there trends for different kinds of water use?
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedThermoelectric Power Water Use
Much of the electricity used in the United States and worldwide comes from thermoelectric power plants. This type of production includes fuels such as coal, oil, gas-fired, nuclear, and other lesser-used methods, such as geothermal and burning waste material. Production of electrical power results in one of the largest uses of water in the United States and worldwide. Water for thermoelectric...
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 18, 2018Status: CompletedGroundwater Use in the United States
Groundwater is one of our most valuable resource—even though you probably never see it or even realize it is there. Groundwater is essential for irrigation and human use in many parts of the country. The use of groundwater in the United States in 2015 is described below.
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 11, 2018Status: CompletedSaline Water Use in the United States
Do you wear contact lenses? If so, you most likely use a saline water solution to clean them. But what else do we use saline water for and do we really use that much? Read on to learn all about the use of saline water.
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedTotal Water Use in the United States
The water in the Nation's rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and underground aquifers are vitally important to our everyday life. These water bodies supply the water to serve the needs of every human and for the world's ecological systems, too. Here in the United States, every 5 years the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiles county, state, and National water withdrawal and use data for a number of...
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 8, 2018Status: CompletedFreshwater Withdrawals in the United States
The freshwater in the Nation's rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, reservoirs, and in underground aquifers are vitally important to our everyday life, and, indeed, to all life on Earth.
Contacts: Ask USGS -
Date published: June 7, 2018Status: CompletedPublic Supply Water Use
It is likely the water you use at home is brought to you by a public water-supply system. These are agencies, such as you local county government, that find and get the water that is delivered to not only your home, but to many businesses and industries. Most of the population of the United States gets their water this way.
Contacts: Ask USGSAttribution: Water Resources -
Date published: June 7, 2018Status: CompletedIrrigation Water Use
Throughout the world, irrigation (water for agriculture, or growing crops) is probably the most important use of water (except for drinking and washing a smelly dog, perhaps). Irrigation water is essential for keeping fruits, vegetables, and grains growing to feed the world's population, and this has been a constant for thousands of years.
Contacts: Ask USGSAttribution: Water Resources -
Date published: June 7, 2018Status: CompletedLivestock Water Use
Livestock water use is water associated with livestock watering, feedlots, dairy operations, and other on-farm needs.
Contacts: Ask USGSAttribution: Water Resources -
Date published: June 7, 2018Status: CompletedDomestic Water Use
Domestic water use is water used for indoor and outdoor household purposes— all the things you do at home: drinking, preparing food, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, brushing your teeth, watering the garden, and even washing the dog. At the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), domestic water use refers to the amount of water that is "self-supplied", or water withdrawn directly by users, such as...
Contacts: Ask USGS
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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.]
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.
Map of the U.S. by state, showing total water withdrawals, 2015
Map of the U.S. by state, showing total water withdrawals, 2015
Bar chart showing use of water in 2015, by state and category of use
Bar chart showing use of water in 2015, by state and category of use
Source and use of water in the U.S. in 2015
Source and Use of Water in the United States, 2015
This diagram uses a "cylinder and pipe" layout to show the source (surface water or groundwater) of the Nation's water and for what purposes the water was used in 2015. The data are broken out for each category of use by surface water and groundwater as the source.
Data are rounded and are reported in million
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