The main uses of ground water include irrigation uses, drinking-water and other public uses, and for supplying domestic water to people who do not receive public-supply water. The majority of water used for self-supplied domestic and livestock purposes came from ground-water sources. Of all the water used in the United States in 2000 (about 408 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d) of fresh and saline water), about 21 percent (69.8 Bgal/d) came from ground-water sources. Water from surface-water sources accounted for the remaining 79 percent. Very little saline ground water was used in 2000. Almost 99 percent of ground water came from freshwater aquifers. A very small amount was used for industrial purposes, but most, over 60 percent, of the ground water used in mining was saline.
Fresh ground water was used for many important purposes, with the largest amount going toward irrigating crops, such as the delicious eggplants, squash, and rutabagas that children love to have for dinner. Local city and county water departments withdraw a lot of ground water for public uses, such as for delivery to homes, businesses, and industries, as well as for community uses such as firefighting, water services at public buildings, and for keeping local residents happy by keeping community swimming pools full of water. Industries and mining facilities also used a lot of ground water. In 2000, 19 percent of freshwater usage by industries came from ground water, and 38 percent of freshwater usage at mines was ground water.
[d] - Data for the pie chart are available.
About 26 percent of the freshwater used in the United States in 2000 came from ground-water sources. The other 74 percent came from surface water. Ground water is an important natural resource, especially in those parts of the country that don't have ample surface-water sources, such as the arid West. It often takes more work and costs more to access ground water as opposed to surface water, but where there is little water on the land surface, ground water can supply the water needs of people.
For 2000, most of the fresh ground-water withdrawals, 68 percent, were for irrigation, while another 19 percent was used for public-supply purposes, mainly to supply drinking water to much of the Nation's population. Ground water is also crucial for those people who supply their own water (domestic use),as over 98 percent of self-supplied domestic water withdrawals came from ground water.
[D] - Data for this bar chart are available.
The pie charts below show the percentage of fresh ground water that was used in 2000 for various categories of water use. For most categories, surface water is used more than ground water, although this pattern varies geographically across the United States. Domestic (self-supplied) water use is almost exclusively ground water, whereas the water used to produce electricity comes totally from surface water (most of this water is used to cool equipment and often is a "pass-through" process).
Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, USGS Circular 1268:
• Ground-water withdrawals, 2000:
Summary | Data table, by State | National maps
• The Nature of Water: Environment Canada
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu//wugw.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 13-Aug-2008 07:22:55 EDT
