Irrigation Water Use Estimates

TWDB is legislatively directed to plan for, and to assist financially, the development and management of the water resources of Texas. To understand the need for and effectiveness of water-saving mechanisms, it is necessary to understand how much water is in use.

In terms of agricultural use, TWDB staff annually estimates agricultural irrigation water use for every county in the state. TWDB does not have the authority to require producers to report actual irrigation water use, and thus collates information from multiple sources. Crop data is collected from U.S. Department of Agriculture - Farm Service Agency records and local sources when available. Surface water irrigation diversion releases are provided by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regional Watermasters. Groundwater conservation districts assist by reviewing the estimates and suggesting revisions based on local expertise.

Learn more about this process by reading our Water Use Estimation Methodology or by visiting the TWDB Water Use Survey, which contains all of the  Historical Water Use Estimates, as well as data specific to the Historical Agriculture Irrigation Water Use Estimates. For more information about our annual irrigation water use estimates, please contact Agricultural Conservation staff.

Historical Information

• Report 347 on Surveys of Irrigation in Texas from 1958 to 2000.
• Report 378 on Irrigation Metering and Water Use Estimates.
• TWDB also has high resolution scanned images of Irrigation Surveys (inventory) & Survey Maps by county dating back to 1958. These maps were created by local USDA personnel approximately every five years through 2000. See an example of these historical survey maps.
• Check out Water Data for Texas to see Historical and Current Texas Reservoir Data.