Consumptive water use is water removed from available supplies without return to a
water resource
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...
system (e.g., water used in manufacturing, agriculture, and
food preparation
{{catexp, articles about specific foodstuffs. See :Food and drink for more general topics relating to food.
Food watchlist articles ...
that is not returned to a stream, river, or
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...
plant).
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evapora ...
from the surface of the Earth into clouds of water in the air which then falls to the ground as "rain" is excluded from this model. Crop consumptive water use is the amount of water transpired during plant growth plus what evaporates from the soil surface and foliage in the crop area. The portion of water consumed in crop production depends on many factors, especially the
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
technology.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Consumptive Water Use
United States Department of Agriculture