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All Wet

Drips and Drabs 97 percent of the earth's water is seawater, 2 percent is ice, and the remaining 1 percent is cycling around as fresh water. Of that, half is too deep to access. If all the earth's water fit into a gallon jug, the available fresh water would fit into a tablespoon. Total U.S. fresh water usage: 402 billion gals/day Average gallons per day per person in U.S. household use: 74 Santa Cruz city average usage: 73 gallons per person per day Soquel Creek water district average usage: 76 gallons per person per day North Coast average usage: 84 gallons per person per day Scotts Valley average usage: 116 gallons per person per day Central Coast average usage: 113 gallons per person per day At 36 billion gallons/day, California is the nation's heaviest water user, followed by Texas (29.6 Bgal/d), Illinois (19.9 Bgal/d) and Florida (18.2 Bgal/d). 80 percent of California's fresh water is used in agriculture. Source: USGS, Soquel Creek Water District, City of Santa Cruz [ Santa Cruz Week | MetroActive Central | Archives ]