Water use in the United States, 1980

1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Solley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals A spatially detailed blue water footprint of the United States economy

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 3007-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Rushforth ◽  
Benjamin L. Ruddell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Consumptive Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Per Capita

Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale (county-level) federal data resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in both the magnitude of the US water footprint (F) and in the observed pattern of virtual water flows. Four virtual water accounting scenarios were developed with minimum (Min), median (Med), and maximum (Max) consumptive use scenarios and a withdrawal-based scenario. The median water footprint (FCUMed) of the US is 181 966 Mm3 (FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax: 222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per capita water footprint (FCUMed′) of the US is 589 m3 per capita (FWithdrawal′: 1298 m3 per capita; FCUMax′: 720 m3 per capita; FCUMin′: 198 m3 per capita). The US hydroeconomic network is centered on cities. Approximately 58 % of US water consumption is for direct and indirect use by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is 93 % of the total US blue water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated agriculture in the western US. The water footprint of the industrial, domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 to over 99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific, economic-sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's water use impact on the hydrosphere.

scholarly journals Water use for electricity in the United States: an analysis of reported and calculated water use information for 2008

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 015001 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Averyt ◽  
J Macknick ◽  
J Rogers ◽  
N Madden ◽  
J Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
The United States

Water Use in the United States, 1960

1961 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 1211-1216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. MacKichan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals Regional Multivariate Indices of Water Use Potential for the Continental United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2292
Author(s):  
White ◽  
Mack ◽  
Harlan ◽  
Krayenhoff ◽  
Georgescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
United States Geological Survey ◽  
Scarce Water ◽  
Small Set

The necessity of freshwater for sustaining human life has prompted the development of numerous estimation techniques and metrics for understanding where, when, and why water is used. While estimates are valuable, techniques for estimating water use vary, and may be difficult to replicate and/or unavailable on an annual basis or at the regional scale. To address these drawbacks, this paper proposes a series of regional indices for the continental United States that could serve as proxies for water use that are based on key variables associated with water use. Regional indices at the county level are computed, compared against each other, and compared to water withdrawal estimates from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). These comparisons highlight differences amongst the derived indices and the water withdrawal estimates. They also demonstrate promise for future development and implementation of related indices, given their similarities with water withdrawal estimates. Using only a small set of variables, these indices achieve some degree of similarity (~20%) to estimates of water withdrawals. The comparative data availability and ease of estimating these indices, as well as the ability to decompose the additive indices into their constituent use categories and constituent variables, renders them practically useful to water managers and other decision makers for identification of locally specific drivers of water use and implementation of more geographically-appropriate policies to manage scarce water resources.

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