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Trends In Water Use In The Upper Midwest, Douglas Franklin, John R. Powers, Ardelle Lundeen

Economics Research Reports

The upper Great Plains and Mountain States of the United States withdraws a substantial quantity of water, exceeding 40 billion gallons of water per day (45 million acre feet of water per year). Primary uses are irrigation, domestic, and industrial. The amount of water used is increasing as population grows, as more users exercise water rights, as farmers implement the use of irrigation to reduce risk, and as the state's economies become more diverse. Within the Upper Midwest there is both geographic and temporal variability of water supply, resulting in various degrees of scarcity relative to the quantities demanded. The …