The National Water-Use Information Program

The U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Use Information Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the nation's water-use data. The USGS works in cooperation with local, State, and Federal environmental agencies to collect water-use information at a site-specific level, such as the amount of water used to produce power at a fossil-fuel power-generation plant in Georgia.

USGS also compiles the data from hundreds of thousands of these sites to produce water-use information aggregated at the county, state, and national levels. Every five years, data at the state level are compiled into a national water-use data system and are published in a national circular.

Goals of the Water Use Program

• Analyze the source, use, and disposition of water resources at local, state, and national levels
• Reply to water-use information requests from the public
• Document trends in water use in the United States
• Cooperate with state and local agencies on projects of special interest
• Develop water-use data bases
• Publish local, state, and national water-use data reports