Water withdrawal and consumption trends for thermoelectric-power plants in the conterminous United States, 2008-2020

Kenneth D. Skinner; Richard G. Niswonger; Melissa A. Harris; Brendan A. McCarthy; Catherine A. Chamberlin; Melissa A. Lombard; Timothy H. Diehl; Amy E. Galanter; Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca; Jana S. Stewart

doi:10.1021/acsestwater.5c00360

Water withdrawal and consumption trends for thermoelectric-power plants in the conterminous United States, 2008-2020

Environmental Science and Technology: Water

By: Kenneth D. Skinner, Richard G. Niswonger, Melissa A. Harris, Brendan A. McCarthy, Catherine A. Chamberlin, Melissa A. Lombard, Timothy H. Diehl, Amy E. Galanter, Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca, and Jana S. Stewart

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.5c00360

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Abstract

Freshwater-using utility-scale thermoelectric (TE) plant water-use estimates were evaluated for annual trends from 2008 to 2020 across the conterminous United States (CONUS) and within hydrologic regions. Overall, TE water withdrawal and consumption trends declined across CONUS by 14,335 and 278 million liters/day, respectively. Decreasing water withdrawal and consumption trends for TE plants are driven largely by switching from coal-fired plants to other generation technologies. TE plant cooling system technology has also changed, with large declining trends for TE plants using once-through cooling systems and small increasing consumption trends for TE plants using recirculating tower cooling systems. Fifteen hydrologic regions have decreasing trends in withdrawals and consumption. The largest decreases are for coal-fired plants using once-through freshwater cooling systems in the Great Lakes and Ohio hydrologic regions. Natural gas combined cycle plants with recirculating tower cooling systems have increased water consumption trends across most of the CONUS hydrologic regions. Some TE plants with recirculating tower or once-through cooling systems withdraw water volumes that on average are close to or exceed average simulated streamflows. Most of these situations occur in the central and eastern U.S., potentially leading to water availability issues among competing water needs, ecosystem impacts from thermal pollution, and power generation constraints.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Water withdrawal and consumption trends for thermoelectric-power plants in the conterminous United States, 2008-2020
Series title	Environmental Science and Technology: Water
DOI	10.1021/acsestwater.5c00360
Volume	5
Issue	10
Publication Date	September 20, 2025
Year Published	2025
Language	English
Publisher	American Chemical Society
Contributing office(s)	Idaho Water Science Center
Description	12 p.
First page	5280
Last page	5831
Country	United States
Other Geospatial	conterminous United States