Future climate change could influence municipal and industrial water demands, as well as competing agricultural irrigation demands. Municipal demand depends on climate to a certain extent, especially for garden, lawn, and recreational field watering, but rates of use are highly dependent on utility regulations. Shiklomanov (1998) notes different rates of use in different climate zones, although in making comparisons between cities it is difficult to account for variation in non-climatic factors. Studies in the UK (Herrington 1996) suggest that a rise in temperature of about 1.1°C by 2025 would lead to an increase in average per capita domestic demand of approximately 5 percent – in addition to non-climatic trends – but would result in a larger percentage increase in peak demands, since demands for garden watering may be highly concentrated. Boland (1997) estimated the effects of climate change on municipal demand in Washington, D.C. under a range of different water conservation policies and concluded that the effect of climate change is “small” relative to economic development and the effect of different water conservation policies.

Industrial use for processing purposes is relatively insensitive to climate change; it is conditioned by technologies and modes of use. Demands for cooling water would be affected by a warmer climate because increased water temperatures will reduce the efficiency of cooling, perhaps necessitating increased source water withdrawals to meet cooling requirements (or, alternatively, changes in cooling technologies to make them more efficient).