| Summary: | to generate several inches of rainfall in a short period of time, whereas cold arctic air from the Canadian prairies can scarcely support any precipitation. As such, the warm season accounts for more than three-quarters of the state's total annual precipitation. Depending on the season, the total water contained in the atmosphere above North Dakota ranges from approximately 350,000 acre-feet in the winter to 5.5 million acre-feet in the summer. Most of the water passes through the state borne by winds aloft. On any given day, nature converts a small fraction of the available water to clouds and sometimes precipitation. Current and Historic Water Use Water in North Dakota is used in a variety of ways. While the traditional uses of "mining, irrigating, and manufacturing" found in the North Dakota Constitution in Article XI, Section 3, still remain prevalent, new diverse uses and needs are continually being created. 2003 - 2013 Average Annual Total Water Use = 1,353,764 Acre-Feet 2003-2013 Ground Water Average Use (In Acre-Feet) 2003-2013 Surface Water Average Use (In Acre-Feet) Total: 156,429 Total: 1,197,355 Historically, and still today, the greatest percentage of consumptive water use is for irrigation, and the greatest percentage of non-consumptive use is for power generation, such as Garrison Dam and coal power plants along the Missouri River. When comparing the state's consumptive water use to the rest of the states in the country, North Dakota ranks fifth lowest at 0.13 percent of total consumptive water use. Hydrofracturing for oil, or 'Tracking," is a technology that began to see widespread use in the state in 2007. Although fracking water use has often been portrayed as representing a substantial portion of North Dakota's water use, all water use in oil production in 2013 accounted for only 19,686 acre-feet, or 5 percent of consumptive water use, out of the state's approximately 359,000 acre-feet. 516 2015-2017 North Dakota Blue Book
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