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MAJOR TEXAS CROPS: IRRIGATED LAND USE VS.
WATER USED FOR IRRIGATION PURPOSES, 1999
Use these numbers
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Source: Texas Water Development Board,
Crop Acres and Water Loss-1994) (1996)
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Irrigation Use
Irrigation of agricultural lands accounted for 60 percent
of the water used in Texas in 2000. Five crops in Texas made up more than 80 percent of the irrigated land in 2000: cotton (33 percent), wheat (16 percent), corn (16
percent), grain sorghum (9 percent), and pasture and other feed (8 percent).*
From 1980 to 1990, annual water use for irrigation declined from 12.7 million acre-feet to 10.2 million
acre-feet-- a decline of nearly 20 percent. While irrigation water use was relatively stable between 1990 and 2000, the general decline is expected to continue
over the next 50 years, with projected agricultural use in 2050 of 8.5 million acre-feet, according to the most recent projections. This projection assumes the most
likely adoption of water efficient technology in areas of the state using groundwater and enhanced conveyance efficiency in areas using suface water. .* It also assumes some transfer of water rights to municipal uses and declining groundwater supplies.
There are two reasons for both the present and the expected future decline: the number of irrigated acres
in production dropped 30 percent between 1974 and 1989 -- from 8.6 million acres to 6.1 million acres --, and farmers are practicing better water conservation
techniques. Irrigation surveys, however, showed a slight increase in irrigated land between 1989 and 2000, as irrigation increased from 6.1 million acres to 6.35 million
acres. The amount of water used per acre has remained relatively stable, in part because of increases in high-water-use crops like corn, pecans, and sugarcane.* The biggest change has been a gradual decrease in grain
sorghum and an increase in corn and cotton. For example, between 1984 and 2000, cotton irrigated acres increased
from 2,111,706 to 2,432,121 acres, corn acreage increased from 777,056 to 996,070 acres, pecans from 56,682 to
64,212 acres, and sugarcane from 35,500 to 50,218 acres. Overall, the water use per acre was 1.54 acre-feet of water per acre in 2000, while in 1989 it was 1.45 acre-feet of water per acre.*
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1990, 1995 and 2001 PER CAPITA WATER USE BY MAJOR
MUNICIPALITIES (GALLONS PER DAY)
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CITY
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1990
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1995
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2001
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Abilene
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216
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159
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198
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Amarillo
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234
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223
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216
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Beaumont
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158
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159
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227
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Brownsville
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191
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184
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229
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Dallas
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237
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230
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250
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Irving
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188
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196
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208
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Laredo
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254
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190
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192
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Plano
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210
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220
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279
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State
Average
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167
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158
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191
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Arlington
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101
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162
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180
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Austin
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180
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157
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132
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Corpus Christi
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186
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140
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179
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El Paso
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183
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179
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165
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Fort Worth
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210
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189
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157
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Garland
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159
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151
|
145
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Houston
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157
|
126
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160
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Lubbock
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176
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189
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184
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Mesquite
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152
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165
|
148
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Pasadena
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129
|
117
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117
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San Antonio
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159
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149
|
142
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Waco
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198
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172
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180
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Source: Texas Water Development Board, " 1995 Per Capita Water Use
for Texas Cities" (1997), and "2001 Water Use Summary Estimates by City" (August 2003).
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Note: Includes both residential and commercial water use. Industrial use and sales
to other utilities are excluded
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Municipal Use
Municipal water use is the fastest growing category of water use in Texas. Municipal use
totaled over four million acre-feet of water in 2000, rose to 4.5 million acre-feet during the drought of 2001, and likely projections from the 2002 Water Plan indicate that by 2050, total
municipal use will top seven million acre-feet*. Municipal water use includes water for households and businesses, restaurants and
public offices, sanitation and landscaping, and, of course, fire protection. Generally, the largest cities in the state use the most water, with Houston and Dallas consuming 14.5 percent and
13.7 percent of all municipal water. However, even accounting for a city's overall size, per capita use varies widely across the state. In 2001, the average Dallas resident used 250
gallons per day, while the average Houstonian only used 160 gallons per day.* The difference
between the two? There is more rain in Houston to feed residents' and business owners' lawns, higher incomes in Dallas and thus a larger ability to pay for water, and a more aggressive
conservation program in Houston, including conservation pricing, discouraging over-use.
Statewide, average per capita municipal use was about 100 gallons per day in the 1950s and rose
to a high of 182 gallons in 1978. Since that time, per capita use in the state has begun to decline, leveling off to an estimated 158 gallons per
capita per day in 1995, before rising to 167 in 1996 during the drought.* In 2001, another low
rainfall year, preliminary estimates indicate a per-capita per-day water use of a whopping 191 gallons per day per person*. The 2002 State
Water Plan estimated that in 2000 the below-normal rainfall (drought year) per-capita
use would have totaled about 181 GPCD, but was projected to decrease to 159 GPCD as cities adopted conservation measures*. For example, a partnership between the City of Houston's Water Conservation Branch and the Housing
Authority of the City of Houston to install low-water-use fixtures, promote water conservation education, and repair
leaks reduced water consumption by more than 72 percent in a low-income family housing complex.*
Since 1986, the state has helped promote water conservation by requiring that recipients of federal and state water
and wastewater loans over $500,000 implement a water conservation program. In addition, the TCEQ has instituted
rules that require the adoption of water conservation measures as a condition of receiving any type of permit to use state water.* Finally, SB 1, passed by the legislature in 1997, requires all major water users-water utilities,
municipalities, and water supply corporations-to adopt both a drought management plan and a water conservation plan. For the 2002 Water Plan,
Industrial Water Use
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WATER USE BY MAJOR INDUSTRIES IN TEXAS, 1995 (ACRE-FEET)
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Source: Texas Water Development Board,
Water Use by Major Industries 1995" (1997)
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Water use within the industrial sectors in Texas is projected to climb over the next 50 years, as it has in
the recent past. Between 1986 and 1990, for example, water use for manufacturing rose 15 percent, from about 1.4 million acre-feet to 1.6 million acre-feet. This
increase was due primarily to the resurgence of the petrochemical industry.* In 1995 industrial water use
fell slightly to 1.5 million acre-feet.* By 2001, it had again increased to about 1.6 million acre-feet*. Five
industrial sectors have accounted for over 90 percent of total water use by manufacturing in 1999: chemical product manufacturing, petroleum refining, pulp and
paper production, primary metal manufacturing and food and kindred products.* In fact, the first two
sectors used over 60 percent of the water that year, and ten counties -- Harris, Jasper, Brazoria, Orange, Jefferson, Galveston, Morris, Harrison, Cass and Milam
-- account for over 75 percent of the State's total manufacturing water use.* In 1990, just 20 companies
accounted for more than half the water used in manufacturing in 1990.*
The use of water conservation practices has increased within Texas's industrial sector since the early 1980s. Using
saline water or treated wastewater in cooling processes and substituting electric heat for steam or hot water are two such examples.* Industries that use a large amount of process water, such as the paper and pulp and the
semiconductor industries, have enormous potential to reduce their water use.* Despite continued gains from
conservation, total water demand -- assuming a drought year -- in the industrial sector is projected to increase to 2.66 million acre-feet by 2050, according to the 2002 State Water Plan.*
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