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. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; sligh ...

system (e.g., water used in manufacturing, agriculture, and

food preparation Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inges ...

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, inclu ...

plant). Evaporation 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) 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 been dev ...

technology.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Consumptive Water Use United States Department of Agriculture