What Is an Acre Foot of Water? (325,851 Gallons, and Every Conversion That Matters)
One acre foot is 325,851 gallons of water: the volume that covers one acre of land one foot deep. It is the unit the entire western water economy prices in, and every lease, decree, and index quote you will ever read uses it.
The conversions below are the working math of water deals, worth bookmarking because counterparties who think in barrels or millions of gallons are often hoping you do not convert quickly.
Bracket what your water is actually worth
Two questions, then a read on where your water sits between the bank floor and premium demand.
What demand exists near your water?
The buyer type is the biggest lever on price.
How many gallons are in an acre foot?
One acre foot equals 325,851 gallons, which is 43,560 cubic feet, one acre (43,560 square feet) times one foot of depth.
The everyday reference: an acre foot has historically been described as roughly a year of supply for one to two typical households, a rough planning figure utilities use, with the actual number depending on local usage and conservation.
How many barrels are in an acre foot?
One acre foot equals approximately 7,758 barrels at the oilfield standard of 42 gallons per barrel. This is the single most important conversion in landowner water deals, because oil and gas operators price water per barrel while your right is decreed in acre feet.
The math that follows: fresh frac water reported at $1.00 to more than $2.00 per barrel in the Permian Basin equates to roughly $7,800 to $15,500 per acre foot, versus about $200 per acre foot per year for a Front Range irrigation lease. Same molecule, different buyer.
The conversion table
The five conversions that cover nearly every deal document:
- 1 acre foot = 325,851 gallons.
- 1 acre foot = 43,560 cubic feet.
- 1 acre foot = approximately 7,758 barrels (42-gallon oilfield barrels).
- 1 cubic foot per second (cfs) flowing for 24 hours = approximately 1.98 acre feet.
- 1 million gallons = approximately 3.07 acre feet.
What is an acre foot of water worth?
Sourced 2025-2026 markers across the West: the Idaho Water Supply Bank rents irrigation water at a posted $33 per acre foot per year; Colorado Front Range leases pay about $200 per acre foot per year; the Nasdaq Veles California Water Index (NQH2O) put California spot water near $254 per acre foot in mid 2026; Rio Grande municipal rights were publicly offered at $3,400 per acre foot in December 2025; and Colorado-Big Thompson units, a permanent supply asset, traded between $52,000 and $85,000 per unit in early 2026.
The spread is the story: the value of an acre foot is set by who is buying and how badly they need reliability, not by the water itself. Full sourced table on our rates page.
Where to list or broker your water
If you would rather run the process yourself, these are the real channels owners use: marketplaces where you list and negotiate, and brokerages that run the deal for a commission. Or start with our valuation and let the numbers pick the channel.
We track clicks on these links to learn which services actually help owners, and some may become partner links that pay WaterLeases a referral fee at no cost to you. It never changes who we recommend. You can always get an independent valuation first.
Listing marketplaces
Listing platforms that put your right in front of active buyers. You set the price and run the negotiation.
Listing marketplace for buying, selling, and leasing water rights across the West, with an optional network of water professionals.
Best for Owners who want their right publicly listed in front of active western buyers.
Visit Western Water Market →Property resource marketplace where landowners list water, along with solar, minerals, and other resources, for free and field offers.
Best for Landowners who want a no-cost listing and a read on all their property resources at once.
Visit LandGate →Technology-first marketplace aiming at lower transaction costs and better price discovery for buying, selling, and leasing rights.
Best for Owners comfortable with a newer platform in exchange for lower friction.
Visit Water Rights Marketplace →Specialist brokerages
Specialist water brokerages that price the right, market it to their network, and run the deal for a commission.
Utah-focused marketplace plus full-service brokerage that markets the right, finds the counterparty, and guides the deal to close.
Best for Utah owners of water rights or irrigation shares who want a specialist to run the deal.
Visit Utah Water Hub →Specialized Edwards Aquifer brokerage handling purchases, sales, and leases of permitted Edwards groundwater rights.
Best for Texas owners of Edwards Aquifer permits in the San Antonio region.
Visit Edwards Water Resources →Valuation firms
Firms that produce formal, bank-grade appraisals and market studies for significant holdings.
The economics and valuation consultancy behind the Nasdaq Veles California Water Index; formal appraisals and market studies.
Best for Large holdings that justify a formal, bank-grade appraisal.
Visit WestWater Research →How WaterLeases helps
We run the first steps for you: a records check on what you hold and a confidential valuation bracketed against sourced comparables and real demand in your basin. Then you decide, lease, bank, sell, or wait, with the numbers in hand.