This paper reviews existing methods for assessing livestock water resource use, recognizing that water plays a vital role in global food supply and that livestock production systems consumes a large amount of the available water resources. A number of methods have contributed to the development of water resources use assessments of livestock production. The methods reviewed in this study were classified into three categories: water productivity assessments, water footprint assessments and life cycle assessments. The water productivity approach has been used to assess benefits derived from consumptive water use in livestock production; the water footprint approach has raised awareness of the large amounts of water required for livestock production; and life cycle assessments highlight the important connection between water resource use and local impacts.