Non-Farmland Irrigation in the US
- Turf-grass, which covers about 2% of the entire US, is the most irrigated plant in the country.
- According to a 2005 NASA-led survey, it was determined that there were 63,000 square miles of turf grass in the US. This covers an area larger than Georgia. So much amount of grass can consume from 50% to 75% of a residence's water.
- As reported by IBISWorld, the water supply and irrigation systems industry in the US has a size of $82 billion.
- An average American family uses about 320 gallons of water in a day. Of this volume of water, about 30% is devoted to outdoor use. Also, over half (over 50%) of the outdoor water consumed is used on lawns and gardens.
- Nationally (in the US), landscape irrigation accounts for about one-third (1/3) of total daily residential water use, totaling almost 9 billion gallons per day.
- In dry climates, such as the Southeast, outdoor water use per household can be as much as 60%. Experts estimate that up to 50% of the volume of water used for irrigation is wasted, due to evaporation, wind, or run-off caused by inefficient irrigation systems.
Summary
Results from our search indicates that information regarding the regions — categorized by either states, counties, cities, and others — that consume most irrigation water appears to be publicly unavailable. This is most likely due to unavailability of public data that can address such questions.
For example, according to the Council of State Governments (CSGs), the most recent data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that addresses water usage with regard to irrigation is from 2015. This makes it difficult to provide recent and accurate data to provide the requested information. Above is our most useful finding.