Projected future demands for water (consumptive use), between 2010 and 2030, are mapped at the same scale as water availability (the sum of the five new water supply source metrics) but with the color scale is reversed to distinguish high demands with warmer colors (red=greater demand). Noteworthy aspects of the map are the large regions with zero to negative projected future demands (white areas). These are regions where the state projects some level of abandonment of irrigation combined with limited rural population growth. New demands are most uniform in the far West and East where the density of communities is the greatest. The greatest new demands are associated with metropolitan areas; particularly, along the West Coast (north and south), Tucson/Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Albuquerque.
To view the sources and processes used to estimate demand, select a state below: