Water withdrawals by U.S. power plants have been declining

Water withdrawals by U.S. thermoelectric power plants reached 52.8 trillion gallons in 2017, continuing a decline in withdrawal volumes since 2014. The water intensity of total U.S power generation—the average amount of water withdrawn per unit of total net electricity generated—fell from 15.1 gallons per kilowatthour in 2014 to 13.0 gallons per kilowatthour in 2017. More »