New data by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that fresh groundwater withdrawals in 2015 were about 8% greater than in 2010.
The USGS circular 1441, Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015, showed that the groundwater withdrawals amounted to 82.3 Bgal/day. The circular also showed that groundwater withdrawals for irrigation were 57.2 Bgal/day in 2015, about 16% more than in 2010. About 63,500 thousand acres (or 63.5 million acres) were irrigated in 2015, an increase from 2010 of about 1,130 thousand acres (2%).
In 2015, more than 50% of the total withdrawals in the United States were accounted for by 12 States (California, Texas, Idaho, Florida, Arkansas, New York, Illinois, Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan, Montana, and Nebraska). California accounted for almost 9% of the total withdrawals and 9% of freshwater withdrawals in the United States, predominantly for irrigation.
Texas and California accounted for 59% of the total saline groundwater withdrawals in the United States, mostly for mining.