within the agricultural sector, withdrawn water use is for irrigation and for livestock. whereas all irrigation in the us (including loss in conveyance of irrigation water) is estimated to account for about 38 percent of us withdrawn freshwater use, the irrigation water used for production of livestock feed and forage has been estimated to account for about 9 percent, and other withdrawn freshwater use for the livestock sector (for drinking, washdown of facilities, etc.) is estimated at about 0.7 percent. because agriculture is a major user of withdrawn water, changes in the magnitude and efficiency of its water use are important. in the us, from 1980 (when agriculture's withdrawn water use peaked) to 2010, there was a 23 percent reduction in agriculture's use of withdrawn water, while us agricultural output increased by 49 percent over that period.