RE: [pf] Fork in the evolution road

by David A

21 December 2000 15:40 UTC

Vicki, you're right, water use for agriculture in the  US is 
significantly lower, about 35-40%[1,2]. All of the numbers I gave were 
global averages. The US is actually doing pretty well: 

* total water use per capita declined by 22% from 1980 to 1995. "The 
drop in water use, which comes after decades of steady increase, is 
attributed by experts largely to a gradual shift in focus away from 
finding ways to capture more water--building dams, for instance--and 
toward devising ways of using it more efficiently once obtained."[2]

* water used per acre of irrigated land has decreased by 16% from 
1980-1995.

* industrial use of water has declined by 35% in that time

* water used for cooling in power plants has declined by 5%

* water use for domestic purposes has stayed about constant, at 100 
gallons per person per day over this time.

* the amount of water used by livestock and rural households has risen 
58% since 1980. ("Much of the jump is attributed to growth in the 
raising of fish, fur-bearing animals, horses and pets."[2])

However, some of the US's water is still coming from underground 
acquifers such as the Ogallala, which are being depleted at 
unsustainable rates and is only going to make farming in the midwest 
even more difficult. 

David

Sources:
[1] 1999 US Statistical Abstracts, Table #400.
[2] "Expectation Aside, Water Use in the US Is Showing Decline," William 
K. Stevens, New York Times, November 9, 1998, reprinted at 
http://waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/water-use.htm.