Water Use Glossary

Water use is water withdrawn or diverted from a ground- or surface-water source and used for public supply, industry, power generation, rural domestic, livestock, irrigation, and aquaculture purposes. The following definitions clarify water-use terms.

Public-supply withdrawal refers to water withdrawn and delivered to a group of users by public and private water suppliers. Typically a public water supply is one that serves 25 people or 15 connections year round. The water is used for a variety of purposes such as domestic, commercial, industrial, and public water use. In addition, a portion of public-supply withdrawals are conveyed to a large industrial facility that does not have its own water supply.

Industrial withdrawal refers to water withdrawn for industrial purposes such as process and production, boiler feed, air conditioning, cooling, sanitation, washing, and steam generation.

Power-generation withdrawal refers to water withdrawn for thermoelectric power-generation purposes such as cooling, sanitation, washing, and steam generation. Use of water for hydroelectric power generation is considered an instream use and not a withdrawal. Therefore, hydroelectric power-generation use is not included in surface-water withdrawals in this report, but is reported as an instream use.

Rural-domestic withdrawal refers to water withdrawn by a person or family for personal home use. These users are often in rural areas where public supplies are unavailable.

Livestock withdrawal refers to water withdrawn for use in the production of cattle, horses, sheep, swine, poultry, and other animals.  The water can be used for livestock consumption, sanitation, and other on-farm needs.

Irrigation refers to any withdrawal of water for application to vegetation. This includes application to field crops such as rice, corn, cotton, fruit crops, nurseries, and special applications such as the watering of golf courses and sporting fields.

Aquaculture withdrawal refers to the withdrawal of water for fish, crawfish, and alligator farming.