U.S. Geological Survey

Streamflow, groundwater levels, and water use.

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Aquaculture water use

State-level modeled estimates of fresh groundwater and surface-water withdrawn for aquaculture in the 2013, 2018, and 2023 Census of Aquaculture reference years.

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Dataset: Aquaculture water-use withdrawal estimates
Geography: States (all fifty; no county-level data in this release)
Time coverage: 2013, 2018, 2023
Update frequency: Every 5 years, with the Census of Aquaculture
Published: July 20, 2026
Original file: https://doi.org/10.5066/P143KF7U
Methodology: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/66e47bcdd34e1cc1f894ed3f
License: Public domain. U.S. federal government work (CC0-1.0 dedication).
Our copy: Aquaculture water-use withdrawal estimates

Caveats

These are modeled estimates built from Census of Aquaculture facility data, not reported withdrawals.
This is not the same series as the aquaculture category in USGS's 1985-2015 Water Use Circulars; the method differs and the two are not comparable.
USDA NASS withholds a state's row when fewer than six farms reported aquaculture; Delaware and North Dakota are withheld every year, Nevada also in 2023.
No U.S. total is published or stored here, since summing withheld states would understate the true total.
USGS publishes withdrawals in million gallons per day (Mgal/d); values here are converted to acre-feet per year (1 Mgal/d = 1,120.14 acre-feet per year).

Measures

Aquaculture water withdrawals (acre feet): Fresh groundwater and surface-water withdrawn for aquaculture per year, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day estimate.
Aquaculture water withdrawals by source (acre feet): Fresh aquaculture withdrawals split between groundwater and surface water, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day estimate. Idaho only: the only state with a clean (non-withheld) source split in all three years.

Self-supplied industrial water withdrawals for 2020, estimated by county from a national USGS water-use model and summed here to state totals. Published as "Industrial water use for 2020 by county, HUC12, month, and year for the conterminous United States".

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Dataset: Industrial water use by county, 2020
Geography: Conterminous United States (counties, summed here to state and Idaho-county totals)
Time coverage: 2020
Update frequency: Irregular
Published: April 22, 2026
Original file: https://doi.org/10.5066/P14WTLVD
Methodology: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/6891fd66d4be0267deb7449f
License: Public domain. CC0-1.0 public domain dedication (U.S. federal government work).
Our copy: Industrial water use by county, 2020

Caveats

Covers self-supplied withdrawals by manufacturing facilities (North American Industry Classification System, NAICS, sectors 31-33) only; excludes data centers, mining, thermoelectric power, and publicly-supplied water to manufacturing.
Covers the conterminous United States only; Alaska and Hawaii have no county rows and no figure here.
This is a new 2020 model series, not a continuation of USGS's 1985-2015 Water Use Circular industrial figures; the two are not comparable.
No United States total is stored; USGS's metadata does not state that county rows sum to a published national figure.
USGS publishes withdrawals in million gallons per day (Mgal/d); values here are converted to acre-feet per year (1 Mgal/d = 1,120.14 acre-feet per year).

Measures

Industrial water withdrawals (acre feet): Self-supplied industrial water withdrawn by manufacturing facilities (NAICS 31-33) per year, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day estimate.
Industrial water withdrawals by source (acre feet): Self-supplied industrial water withdrawn by manufacturing facilities (NAICS 31-33) per year, split into groundwater and surface-water sources.

Livestock water use

Modeled 2022 livestock water-use withdrawals by county, summed to Idaho statewide, every other state, and the United States, from a USGS national data release. Published as "Livestock water-use withdrawal estimates for 2022 by 12-digit hydrologic unit code, county, month, and year for the United States, excluding territories".

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Dataset: Livestock water-use withdrawal estimates, 2022
Geography: Idaho (statewide and every county), every other state, United States
Time coverage: 2022
Update frequency: Irregular
Published: May 22, 2026
Original file: https://doi.org/10.5066/P1YUVSRN
Methodology: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/66e47b09d34e1cc1f894ed22
License: Public domain. Marked CC0 1.0 Universal by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Our copy: Livestock water-use withdrawal estimates, 2022

Caveats

This dataset covers livestock, including poultry, water use only; other categories such as irrigation, public supply, and industrial are not included.
These are modeled estimates: state-level per-head water-use coefficients multiplied by county animal inventories, not reported or metered withdrawals.
This is not the same series as the 1985-2015 Water Use Circular figures; it uses a different, more recent county base and is not comparable.
USGS publishes withdrawals in million gallons per day (Mgal/d); values here are converted to acre-feet per year (1 Mgal/d = 1,120.14 acre-feet per year).

Measures

Livestock water withdrawals (acre feet): Modeled water withdrawn for livestock (including poultry) per year, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day annual mean.
Livestock water withdrawals by source (acre feet): Modeled water withdrawn for livestock per year, broken out by groundwater and surface-water source, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day annual mean.

River streamflow (USGS gages)

Annual mean discharge at twelve long-record USGS stream gages on Idaho's major rivers, computed by USGS from approved daily discharge readings.

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Dataset: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics, Idaho streamgages
Geography: Twelve USGS stream gages on the Snake, Boise, Salmon, Clearwater, Kootenai and Bear rivers in Idaho
Time coverage: 1910-2025 (varies by gage)
Update frequency: Annual
Original file: https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/stat/
Methodology: https://help.waterdata.usgs.gov/faq/about-statistics
License: Public domain. U.S. federal government work.
Our copy: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics, Idaho streamgages

Caveats

Each figure is the mean of daily mean discharge over a calendar year, in cubic feet per second, as computed by USGS's own annual statistics service from approved (not provisional) daily readings.
USGS's own convention for an annual streamflow figure is the water year, 1 October to 30 September; this dataset stores calendar years instead so the series lines up with every other year on this site.
At Milner and at Porthill the figure is USGS's "total flow" statistic, which adds diverted or bypassed water back to the channel reading, so those two are not directly comparable to a plain gage reading elsewhere on the same river.
Shoshone Falls sits on the Snake River between the Kimberly and Twin Falls gages; the Kimberly gage is the closest gage upstream of the falls and the Twin Falls gage the closest downstream. Milner Dam, upstream of both, diverts most or all of the river's flow for irrigation in the growing season, so neither gage's reading is a measurement of flow over the falls.

Measures

Mean streamflow (cfs): Mean discharge over the calendar year at a USGS stream gage.

Idaho water use

Water withdrawals in Idaho by source, category and county, from USGS's 5-year Water Use Circular series: total withdrawals from all sources, withdrawals by category of use, and fresh irrigation withdrawals.

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Dataset: Estimated Use of Water in the United States
Geography: Idaho statewide and by county (44 counties)
Time coverage: 1985-2015
Update frequency: Every 5 years
Original file: https://doi.org/10.5066/F7TB15V5
Methodology: https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/accessing-water-use-data
License: Public domain. U.S. federal government work.
Our copy: Estimated Use of Water in the United States

Caveats

USGS published one county-level file per Circular year (1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010); Understand Idaho reads each directly from the publisher's site. 2015, the last Circular year, instead comes from a separate USGS data release, linked above.
USGS publishes withdrawals in million gallons per day (Mgal/d); values here are converted to acre-feet per year (1 Mgal/d = 1,120.14 acre-feet per year).
Idaho statewide and category totals are this site's own sum of the source file's county-level rows, not a separately published state total.
Irrigation withdrawals cover crops and, from 2000 on, golf courses, combined into one figure.
Livestock is stock watering only; Animal Specialties (1985-1995) and Aquaculture (2000 on) are separate categories because USGS defines them differently. Commercial is a category only from 1985 to 1995; USGS stopped compiling it after 1995.
Mining has no figure for 2000; Public Supply (2000), Livestock (2000 on) and Aquaculture (2000 and 2005) are fresh water only.
The 1985 file prints zero for Animal Specialties in every Idaho county; the value is stored as printed.

Where sources disagree

Water withdrawals by category, Idaho, 2015: USGS livestock water-use estimates, 2022 publishes 61,480 acre-feet. This is the Livestock row of the 2015 Water Use Circular, 56,870 acre-feet. USGS's separate 2022 Livestock water-use withdrawal estimates, shown on /water/livestock-water-use/, give 61,480 acre-feet for Idaho. The two are different products: the Circular is a five-year compilation last produced for 2015, while the 2022 release is a newer, county-level model built on per-head water-use coefficients and animal inventories. Neither supersedes the other; they are not the same measurement repeated over time.
Water withdrawals by category, Idaho, 2015: USGS aquaculture water-use estimates, 2023 publishes 3.87 million acre-feet. This is the Aquaculture row of the 2015 Water Use Circular, 2,201,069 acre-feet. USGS's separate Aquaculture water-use estimates for 2023, shown on /water/aquaculture-water-use/, give 3,871,548 acre-feet for Idaho. The two are different products: the Circular is a five-year compilation last produced for 2015, while the newer release is built on Census of Aquaculture facility data with its own methodology and is published for 2013, 2018 and 2023. Neither supersedes the other; they are not the same measurement repeated over time.

Measures

Total water withdrawals (acre feet): Total water withdrawn per year from all sources (groundwater and surface water) and both fresh and saline, across every offstream use category USGS compiled that year, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day figure.
Water withdrawals by category (acre feet): Total water withdrawn per year for one category of use (fresh plus saline where USGS reports a saline column for that category), converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day figure. Idaho statewide only.
Irrigation water withdrawals (acre feet): Fresh groundwater and surface-water withdrawn for irrigation per year, converted from USGS's published million-gallons-per-day figure.

This page was last updated October 16, 2026.