Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants

The report finds that U.S. thermoelectric power plants withdrew between 60 billion and 170 billion gallons of freshwater daily in 2008, with coal plants accounting for the majority of this use. It identifies significant regional disparities in water intensity, noting that plants in the East generally withdraw more water due to a higher prevalence of once-through cooling. The analysis reveals that power plants contributed to water-supply stress in 20% of the 400 stressed watersheds identified. Furthermore, the report highlights critical gaps and inaccuracies in U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, including the total absence of reporting from the nuclear fleet. It argues that climate change and population growth will exacerbate these stresses, urging a shift toward low-water cooling technologies and low-carbon energy sources to ensure grid reliability and ecosystem health.

• In 2008, water-cooled thermoelectric power plants in the U.S. withdrew between 60 billion and 170 billion gallons and consumed between 2.8 billion and 5.9 billion gallons of freshwater daily. The coal fleet was the largest contributor, responsible for 67% of withdrawals and 65% of consumption.
• Water withdrawal intensity varies significantly by region; plants in the East withdrew 41 to 55 times more freshwater per unit of electricity than plants in Utah, Nevada, and California, primarily because Eastern plants rely more on once-through cooling.
• Low-carbon energy is not always low-water. In 2008, nuclear plants withdrew nearly eight times more freshwater per unit of electricity than natural gas plants and 11% more than coal plants. Some concentrating solar power plants consume more water per unit of electricity than the average coal plant.
• Power plants contributed to water-supply stress in 20% of the 400 watersheds (out of 2,106 analyzed) that were experiencing stress in 2008. The report identified 25 watersheds in 17 states where power plants were the primary driver of this stress.
• Thermal pollution is a widespread issue, with over 350 power plants reporting peak summer return flow temperatures exceeding 90°F, which can be lethal to aquatic wildlife.
• Federal water-use data from the EIA contains substantial gaps and errors. Nuclear power plants were entirely exempt from reporting in 2008, and other plants accounted for 28% to 30% of missing withdrawal data and 24% to 31% of missing consumption data.
• Reporting discrepancies are common across many states. In South Carolina, calculated withdrawals were 5 to 12 times higher than the 262 billion gallons reported to the EIA.
• Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts by 2050, particularly in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain states, which will further strain the water resources that power plants depend on for cooling.

APA

Averyt, K., Fisher, J., Huber-Lee, A., Lewis, A., Macknick, J., Madden, N., Rogers, J., & Tellinghuisen, S. (2011). Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/08/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants.pdf

Chicago

Averyt, Kristen, Jeremy Fisher, Annette Huber-Lee, Aurana Lewis, Jordan Macknick, Nadia Madden, John Rogers, and Stacy Tellinghuisen. Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/08/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{averyt2011freshwater, author = {Averyt, Kristen and Fisher, Jeremy and Huber-Lee, Annette and Lewis, Aurana and Macknick, Jordan and Madden, Nadia and Rogers, John and Tellinghuisen, Stacy}, title = {{Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/08/ew3-freshwater-use-by-us-power-plants.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }