WATER FACTS
Courtesy of
Wyoming State Engineer’s Office
Typical Water Use Amounts
1 acre of hay = 3.3 acre-feet
1 acre of corn = 2.7 acre-feet
1 acre of barley = 2.0 acre-feet
1 acre of sugar beets = 2.7 acre-feet
1 barrel of refined petroleum = 770 gallons
1 average home = 0.57 acre-foot/year
1 average home = 505 gallons/day
1 average person = 158 gallons/day
Annual Wyoming Water Use
Irrigation = 2.3 million AF of streamflow
Reservoir Evaporation = 400,000 AF
All others = 60,000 AF of streamflow
Irrigation = 300,000 AF of groundwater
All other uses = 100,000 AF of groundwater
Water Available to Wyoming for Future Use (per year)
(under relevant interstate compacts and court decrees)
North Platte/Laramie Rivers = 0 acre-feet
Belle Fourche River = 7300 acre-feet
Clarks Fork River = 424,000 acre-feet
Green/Little Snake Rivers = 345,000 acre-feet
Powder River = 165,000 acre-feet
Tongue River = 94,000 acre-feet
Snake River = 150,000 acre-feet
Bighorn/Wind Rivers = 1,600,000 acre-feet
Bear River = 10,000 acre-feet
———
Water flowing into state = 2 million AF/year
Water produced in state = 16.2 million AF/year
Surface water consumed = 2.8 million AF/year
Water flowing out of state = 15.4 million AF/year
Water Unit Conversions
1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons = 62.4 pounds
1 gallon = 8.3 pounds
1 gallon = 4 quarts = 3.7853 liters
1 liter = 0.264 gallon
1 acre-foot = 43,560 cubic feet
1 acre-foot = 325,851 gallons
1 second-foot/day = 1.984 acre-feet/day
1 second-foot/day = 86400 cubic feet
1 cubic foot/second = 448.8 gal/minute
1 cubic foot/second = 646,317 gal/day
1 gallon/minute = 192.5 cubic feet/day
1 gallon/minute = 0.00442 acre-foot/day
1 million gallons = 3.0684 acre-feet