The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of leaflet orientation and root morphology on water use characteristics in soybeans. Ten F7 near-isogenic line sets were developed from the population USG 5601T x PI 416.937. Water use of four plants for each line was measured with the Dynamax Flow 32 Sap Flow instrument when the plants were in the active pod filling stage of growth (R4,R5,R6) for a 24 hour period. Leaflet orientation, yield, agronomic characteristics, leaf area, and biomass were recorded in four replications. Differences in the root morphology allowed characterization of three distinct root classes (Prolific, Intermediate, and Normal). Phenotypic data collected confirmed the genetic similarity of each near-isogenic pair. High leaflet orientation plants tended to transpire more water in a 24 hour period and use more water per unit yield relative to lower leaflet orientation plants. This trend was indicated within and across the near-isogenic sets. These effects were not signigicant (p=0.17 and 0.08, respectively) but appeared to be a definite trend in this data set. The dry weight biomass of prolific rooted plants was significantly greater than normal rooted plants. Prolific rooted plants had significantly lower transpiration rates than the other two root classes. Although not significant (p=0.15), prolific rooted plants also tended to have better water use efficiencies, using less water per unit seed yield. The data from this study indicated a trend that lower leaflet leaflet orientation and prolific rooting morphology may result in lower transpiration rates and increased water use efficiencies. Additional data analysis on larger population sets are planned to further address the effects of the two traits on water use and yield in soybeans.