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50 years of water use information, 1950-2000

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Estimated Use of Water in the United States—1950

Table 1.—Estimated withdrawal use of water in the United States, 1950

State  
Rural1
  
Municipal 
  
Industrial2
Irrigational
(1,000 acre-feet per year)3
 For water-power
(1,000 acre-feet per year)
Ground water (mgd) Surface water (mgd) Ground water (mgd) Surface water (mgd) Ground water (mgd) Surface water (mgd) Ground water Surface water
Alabama 30 10 50 110 100 1,200 Negligible Negligible 120,000
Arizona 30 6 40 35 35 10 3,200 2,000 8,300
Arkansas 35 5 35 30 65 40 760 280 5,000
California 250 30 550 750 250 445 10,000 13,000 49,000
Colorado 30 20 20 150 25 45 660 9,000 2,000
Connecticut 15 7 9 180 40 51,500 1 Negligible 5,900
Delaware 6 2 8 15 5 690 Negligible do 0
District of Columbia 0 0 0 180 10 600 0 0 110
Florida 45 10 140 30 280 46 160 250 2,300
Georgia 55 10 45 105 240 71,300 Negligible Negligible 27,000
Hawaii 55 10 35 8 30 9 550 710 650
Idaho 20 10 50 25 50 15 350 15,000 34,000
Illinois 120 20 140 1,070 260 8,300 Negligible Negligible 12,000
Indiana 80 30 140 160 220 1,800 do do 5,300
Iowa 120 30 85 70 120 1,200 do do 39,000
Kansas 65 15 75 60 100 95 180 70 1,400
Kentucky 50 6 10 110 60 900 Negligible Negligible 45,000
Louisiana 40 7 55 95 340 1,600 450 660 0
Maine 9 9 8 70 15 8970 Negligible Negligible 44,000
Maryland 50 2 15 240 50 91,500 1 do 20,000
Massachusetts 40 1 75 320 100 250 3 3 16,000
Michigan 140 10 160 590 300 4,700 6 20 62,000
Minnesota 80 20 50 95 140 10 Negligible Negligible 23,000
Mississippi 45 10 55 15 25 20 do do 0
Missouri 60 30 25 260 30 590 do do 14,000
Montana 15 20 20 70 15 200 45 5,300 34,000
Nebraska 65 15 80 30 40 30 600 2,000 6,400
Nevada 6 5 20 25 6 10 160 1,500 7,400
New Hampshire 15 1 7 20 10 75 Negligible Negligible 21,000
New Jersey 65 2 170 340 260 101,500 35 1 760
New Mexico 30 1 50 10 10 5 600 3,100 750
New York 160 10 250 1,640 280 1116,000 30 1 130,000
North Carolina 70 1 25 145 80 1,600 2 Negligible 28,000
North Dakota 30 7 7 8 5 95 Negligible 75 200
Ohio 95 60 110 620 400 8,000 1 1 990
Oklahoma 50 20 40 100 25 7 50 130 3,000
Oregon 30 25 50 150 20 160 100 2,200 75,000
Pennsylvania 80 70 100 970 300 5,500 4 4 51,000
Rhode Island 7 1 15 50 15 80 Negligible Negligible 780
South Carolina 35 15 20 80 30 40 7 do 50,000
South Dakota 30 20 20 6 15 15 6 75 270
Tennessee 45 35 85 75 180 2,200 Negligible Negligible 110,000
Texas 240 35 260 190 450 121,300 1,800 3,000 17,000
Utah 20 10 65 20 25 50 250 3,200 2,600
Vermont 15 2 10 20 5 60 Negligible Negligible 16,000
Virginia 65 9 30 190 200 2,700 1 3 16,000
Washington 65 8 110 300 130 360 170 3,700 64,000
West Virginia 40 4 20 45 50 3,300 Negligible Negligible 18,000
Wisconsin 100 10 120 170 75 1,600 2 3 56,000
Wyoming 15 10 25 9 9 9 20 3,200 2,200
TOTAL 2,858 706 3,584 10,056 5,525 71,691 20,204 68,486 1,247,310
 
1Not including irrigation
2From private sources
3An acre-foot is the quantity of water required to cover an acre 1 foot deep; 1,000 acre-feet per year equals 0.89 million gallons per day
4Only a negligible amount was brackish
5 1,000 mgd was brackish
6 55 mgd was brackish
7 130 mgd was brackish
8 190 mgd was brackish
9 1,100 mgd was brackish
10 500 mgd was brackish
11 8,800 mgd was brackish
12 860 mgd was brackish
Water Use in the United States | USGS Water Resources of the United States

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