Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete
blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water
Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale
(county-level) federal data resources from the United States Geological
Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US
Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Transportation
(USDOT), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the US Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows
to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in
both the magnitude of the US water footprint (F) and in the observed
pattern of virtual water flows. Four virtual water accounting scenarios were
developed with minimum (Min), median (Med), and maximum (Max)
consumptive use scenarios and a withdrawal-based scenario. The median water
footprint (FCUMed) of the US is 181 966 Mm3
(FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax:
222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per
capita water footprint (FCUMed′) of the US is 589 m3 per
capita (FWithdrawal′: 1298 m3 per capita;
FCUMax′: 720 m3 per capita; FCUMin′:
198 m3 per capita). The US hydroeconomic network is centered on cities.
Approximately 58 % of US water consumption is for direct and indirect use
by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is
93 % of the total US blue water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated
agriculture in the western US. The water footprint of the industrial,
domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while
the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location
of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients
alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 to over
99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific,
economic-sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce
water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's
water use impact on the hydrosphere.
Public supply and domestic water use in the United States, 2015
