Convert Acre-Foot (US Survey) (ac*ft (US)) to Acre-Foot (ac*ft) instantly.
About these units
Acre-Foot (US Survey) (ac*ft (US))
The US survey acre-foot differs extremely slightly from the international acre-foot due to the slight difference between the survey foot and the international foot. While the distinction is negligible in most contexts, it is important in surveying, legal water rights, and long-term hydrological accounting, especially in regions where large historical datasets were recorded using US survey measures. This variant highlights how even subtle unit differences can have major implications when dealing with huge volumes over long timescales, such as state water budgets and inter-state compacts.
Acre-Foot (ac*ft)
An acre-foot represents the volume of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot—approximately 1,233.48 cubic meters or 325,851 gallons. This unit is foundational in water resource management throughout the western United States, where large-scale irrigation, reservoir planning, and drought analysis depend on acre-foot measurements. For example, major reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell hold billions of acre-feet. In agriculture, irrigation districts track water rights and allocations using acre-feet, making it a key component of water law. Its scale is ideal for representing the enormous water needs associated with farming, urban expansion, and environmental preservation.