Irrigated area increased more than 10-fold from 1890 to 2022, while per-acre water use has declined since 1969

Irrigated agriculture in the United States has expanded substantially since it was first included in the 1890 Census of Agriculture. This expansion reflects private and public investments at the Federal, State, and local levels in infrastructure to deliver surface water to farms and ranches, as well as improvements in well drilling and pumping technologies. However, expansion slowed about 1997 as water supply, infrastructure and land constraints emerged. By 2023, there were 54.9 million acres of irrigated agricultural land in the United States, down from a peak of 58 million acres in 2017 and also below the 56.3 million acres reported in 1997. At the same time, water use intensity—the amount of water applied per acre in acre-feet (1 acre-foot = 325,851 gallons)—has generally declined since 1969. The average water use per acre irrigated was more than 2 acre-feet in 1969 and decreased to a low of 1.49 acre-feet in 2018 before increasing slightly to 1.52 in 2023. The reduction in water use per acre of irrigated land reflects the adoption of pressurized irrigation systems and other improvements in crop needs and water application technologies.