Water Use in Nebraska, 2000

Water-use estimates for the State of Nebraska have been compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey every fifth year since 1950. The compilation of water-use data for 2000 was completed in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. This compilation includes estimates of the amount of public- and self-supplied water used for domestic, irrigation, livestock, industrial, mining, and thermoelectric power generation for all counties in Nebraska. The water-use data collected and compiled in Nebraska are an integral part of the nationwide assessment of water supply and demand compiled at 5-year intervals.

Nebraska Water-Use Data

Data tables of freshwater use for 2000:
Total • Surface water • Groundwater • Total, by category

 Water use by county

Water Use by Category, 2000

An estimated 12,200 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) (13,700 acre-feet per year) were withdrawn for all uses throughout Nebraska during 2000. Of total use, an estimated 4,390 Mgal/d were withdrawn from surface-water sources (36 percent); and of that amount, 2,820 Mgal/d (64 percent) was for thermoelectric power generation and 1,370 Mgal/d (31 percent) was for irrigation. Ground-water withdrawals were estimated to be 7,860 Mgal/d, with over 94 percent (7,420 Mgal/d) being used for irrigation.

Water-use data from previous compilations

The 1995 water-use compilation also was completed in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. A report describing the results of the compilation effort for Nebraska, as well as tables of the data are available on their Web site.

Tables of water-use data from from the 1985 through 2000 compilations also are available from the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Use Web site. The data is available by county for all compilations, and by watershed for the estimates from 1985 and 1990.