External Reports

Irrigation & Water Management Survey

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service conducts a survey on irrigation activities every five year. This Irrigation and Water Management Survey (IWMS), formerly known as the Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey (FRIS), provides the only comprehensive information on irrigation activities and water use across American farms, ranches and horticulture operations. In responding to the survey, producers provide information on topics such as water sources and amount of water used, acres irrigated by type of system, irrigation by crop and system investments and energy costs.

Survey data are used by producers, farm organizations, businesses, state departments of agriculture, elected representatives and legislative bodies at all levels of government, and public and private sector analysts. The data are used to compare water use by application methods, appraise water use trends and evaluate the impact of irrigated crops by state.

  • Results from the survey were featured at the 2024 Irrigation Show and Education Week with USDA representatives on hand to present the results and address questions and insights from attendees.
  • Irrigation Today's Winter 2024/2025 issue provided a deep dive on the report with its article Farming by the numbers.

Water Research Foundation

  • Residential End Uses of Water, Version 2 (Report 4309)
This 2016 report commissioned by the Water Research Foundation is the most comprehensive analysis of residential end uses of water, including for landscape irrigation. It uses actual customer billing data and customer surveys, and it is the most commonly cited reference for other research and analysis on this topic. Public plus access registration is free, and it gives you access to the executive summary. An updated version of the report is underway and expected in late 2025. A prior version from 1999 is available.

EPA WaterSense Materials

WaterSense is a program of the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is a leading source of information and education on outdoor water use and irrigation, and it also develops specifications for water-efficient products. The IA often uses WaterSense and is generally supportive, but on some occasions, there are differences in approaches.


American Water Works Association

The AWWA/Raftelis Water and Wastewater Rate Survey and Dashboard is a comprehensive digital platform that provides utilities and other interested stakeholders with up-to-date data on water rates, among other things. Developed collaboratively by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Raftelis, with data collection by the University of North Carolina’s Environmental Finance Center, the survey now includes semiannual updates from 500 utilities across all 50 U.S. states, enhancing its relevance and timeliness. It can be used to create general estimates of water cost savings from irrigation efficiency projects.