Livestock water use in the United States in 1990 Estimated use of water in the United States in 1990 Livestock Water Use Livestock water use includes water for livestock, feed lots, dairies, fish farms, and other on-farm needs. A few States, such as Arkansas, Oregon, and California, have some offstream fish hatcheries that are included in the commercial category in this report. Water used instream for fish hatcheries is not included in this report. In this report, animal specialties are separated from livestock activities because of the large increase in fish farming water use.
Most water used for fish farms is required to maintain acceptable pond levels and water quality.
The quantity of surface water and ground water withdrawn for use by livestock was estimated from the numbers of animals in a county. The livestock and poultry numbers are available in most States from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop and Livestock Reporting Service or the Cooperative Extension Service. The number of each type of animal in each county was multiplied by an average water use per animal to obtain the water-use estimate. The Crop and Livestock Reporting Service or the Cooperative Extension Service generally have pond acreage for fish farms. Water use is estimated by multiplying pond acreage by an application rate.