Water
Most of the world’s water is used for irrigation. Agricultural production, including livestock production, consumes more fresh water than any other activity in the United States1. In fact, over half the total amount of fresh water consumed in the U.S. goes to irrigate land to grow feed for livestock. Huge additional amounts of water are used to water the animals, clean the equipment, etc. A dairy operation that utilizes an automatic "flushing" system can use up to 150 gallons of water per cow per day2.
It takes less water to produce one year's worth of food for a completely plant-based diet than it  does to produce one month’s worth of food for a diet with animal products. Producing 1 lb. of animal protein requires about 100 times more water than producing 1 lb. of grain protein3.
Additionally, the millions of tons of waste produced by these massive farm animal populations concentrates on the farm and pollutes our lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Water pollution and ammonia emissions, mainly from livestock production, compromise biodiversity-- often drastically in the case of aquatic life.
Animal feed lots create more water pollution than factories and sewage treatment4.
The livestock of the United States produces 20 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the country5. One dairy farm with 2,500 cows produces as much solid waste as a city with about 411,000 residents6.
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