land and water measurements

[Land and Water Measurements]

Land & Water Measurements and Livestock Consumption

Acreage:

The area covered by one acre is roughly the same as the area of a football field (actually, about 90 yards of a football field).
A square acre is about 208 feet long on each side (208.71 feet). Acres do not have to be square.
An acre is 43,560 square feet in size.
One section is equal to 640 acres. A square section is one mile long on each side.
A township is six miles long on each side, and about 23,040 acres.
One hectare, which is a common land measurement used in many countries, and sometimes in old New Mexico land deeds, is 2.47 acres.

Survey Measurements on Older Maps, Surveys, and Deeds:

Water Volumes and Weights:

A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. A 250 gallon tank of water weighs 2,085 pounds.
One gallon is 3.785 liters.
One cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons.
A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds.
One acre foot of water is the same as 90 yards of a football field covered one foot deep.
An acre foot of water contains 325,851 gallons.

Flows:

One cubic foot per second (CFS) is a flow measurement that means one cubic foot of water flowing past a specific point.
A flow of one CFS is the same as 448 gallons per minute (GPM).
A flow of one CFS for 24 hours would amount to 646,272 gallons, or 1.983 acre feet (AF).
A flow of one CFS for one year would amount to 724 AF.
A flow of one CFS is the same as a flow of 50 "miner's inches," according to state law in Utah and New Mexico. The same flow of one CFS is considered 40 miner's inches under Arizona law.
Since 1980, minimum and maximum flows of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon have been about 2,500 CFS and 100,000 CFS, respectively.
One million gallons is the same as 3.07 AF.
A flow of 1,000 gpm is the same as 2.23 CFS.
The average single-family home (4-5 people) served by NTUA consumes 350 gallons per day, or about 127,750 gallons per year, or about 4/10 of an acre foot. (For comparison, urban consumption rates in areas like Phoenix and Albuquerque can be as high as 1,000 gallons per day.) Also, a rough average NTUA household consumption rate in summer is 12,500 gallons per month, and winter is 8,700 gallons per month. (Courtesy of Chrys Uhlig, former NTUA water engineer.)
A reasonable minimum flow rate necessary for a domestic well, to serve a single-family residence, is 5 GPM. Wells that produce less than this flow rate will often require a storage tank to help serve the home.

Livestock Daily Consumption Rates (Approximate).
[Source: Stoddard & Smith. Range Management, 2nd ed.]