Preliminary estimate of water used in southeast river basins, 1960

Abstract

The estimated withdrawal use of water in the Southeast River Basins during 1960 was about 3,900 mgd exclusive of water used to develop waterpower and exclusive of water used by the Savannah River Plant of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. This estimated use amounts to 770 gallons per capita per day. Withdrawal use of water requires that the water be removed from the ground or diverted from a stream or lake. In this report the use is divided into four types: public supplies, rural, irrigation, and self-supplied industrial. An estimate of water used for waterpower is not included in this report. Consumptive use is the quantity of water discharged to the atmosphere or incorporated in the products of the process in which it was used. Only about 290 million of the 3,900 mgd withdrawn was consumed. Of the water withdrawn in 1960, 3,200 mgd was taken from surface sources and 710 mgd from underground sources. Withdrawal of water has increased 31 percent in South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia since 1955. The use of saline water was almost three times as great in 1960 as in 1955. INTRODUCTION The use of water generally reduces the water resources and frequently deteriorates the quality of water, whether the use is withdrawal or nonwithdrawal, consumptive or nonconsumptive. The quality may be adversely affected by addition or concentration of mineral constituents, addition of bacteria or organic matter, or the addition of heat. Because the use of water affects the quantity and quality of the supply, an adequate evaluation of the water resources of a region requires a knowledge of the quantity of water used, where it is used, and the type of use. The purpose of this report is to evaluate in broad categories the use of water in the Southeast River Basins. PRESENT INVESTIGATION The present investigation is part of a nationwide survey of water use in 1960. It covers the same area of 86,543 square miles being investigated by the U.S. Study Commission, Southeast River Basins, and includes the following principal river basins: Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, St. Marys, Suwannee, Ochlockonee, Apalachicola, and Escambia. (See fig. 1,) These basins were selected for an initial or pilot study in recognition of the need of the Study Commission for early information on the magnitude and character of water used within its area of study. This report presents an estimate of the quantity of water withdrawn and the quantity consumed in 1960. Some water was withdrawn from a source, used, and discharged into a stream or the ground, only to be withdrawn again. Each time the water was withdrawn it was added to the accumulated total; therefore, the same water was withdrawn several times and was counted each time that it was withdrawn. .However, if the water was withdrawn and.recirculated, so that it was used several times in the same plant before it was discharged into a stream or the ground, it was counted only once. Although the best information available was used, the estimates in this report are, in general, only approximations of the quantity of water used. The estimate for municipal use is probably the most accurate and that for industrial use, the least accurate. District offices of the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey supplied estimates of water used for public PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF WATER USED IN SOUTHEAST RIVER BASINS, 1960