Appendix A
Narrative Description of State Water Use Data Collection Programs
At the request of the committee, USGS water use specialists, led by the four regional water use coordinators (Deborah Lumia, Joan Kenny, Molly Maupin, and Susan Hutson) undertook a survey of the current condition of water use data collection in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Its purpose was to answer the question, “What kinds of data are collected and stored by each state, and how often?” A series of questions were addressed to the water use specialist in each state (see Chapter 2 for a list of the survey questions), and the responses were tabulated. This appendix is a narrative describing the results of the survey in each state. The overall results of the survey are summarized in Chapter 2.
Alabama has a permitting program for all categories of water use. Data are reported to the state annually for all public water supplies and for other all other water users whose withdrawal exceeds 100,000 gallon per day. Laws are applicable statewide with no difference between surface and groundwater. The state maintains a water use database, which is updated annually. Latitude and longitude are not recorded for wells or surface water intakes.
Alaska has a water use permitting program for all categories of water use. Monthly withdrawal amounts are requested until the facility is issued a certificate to use the water, then the facility reports only if the certificate requires reporting. Most users continue to report on a voluntary basis. Permits are required for usage in excess of 1,500 gallon per day for public water supply and domestic water use and for usage in excess of 10 acre-feet per month for all other users. Laws are
applicable statewide with no difference between surface and groundwater. The state maintains a water use database, which is updated annually. Latitude and longitude are not recorded for wells or surface water intakes. Sometimes the reported water use data are checked against the permitted amounts.
Arizona requires water permits, collects water use data, and maintains a database of annual water use for all users whose groundwater withdrawal rate exceeds 35 gallon per minute in five “active management areas” (Phoenix, Tucson, Pinal, Prescott, Santa Cruz). Groundwater withdrawals are governed by a 1980 state law. Surface water has been adjudicated statewide according to the provisions of a 1919 law using the “first in time is first in right” principle. Surface water data are available from a variety of sources such as Central Arizona Project, Gila Water Commissioner, and irrigation districts. Latitude and longitude of wells and surface water intakes are not reported, but the township, range, and quarter section of these points are recorded. Data checking is done using electric power consumption data and information from satellite photos for monitoring irrigated area.
Arkansas requires water permits and maintains a database of monthly water use reported annually for all surface water uses of more than 1 acre-foot per year and all groundwater wells having a potential flow of 50,000 gallon per day or more. Latitude and longitude are required for all wells and surface water intake points, as well as township, range, section, quarter section, and quarter-quarter section for all of these points. The database is maintained by the USGS, and water use data are sometimes checked against power consumption data. Trends through time are checked for the period of the data, from 1985 to present (see Chapter 3 for more information on the Arkansas water use database).
California has the authority through the California State Water Resources Control Board to permit water use. The state requires annual reporting of surface water withdrawals for permitted water rights for the first 10 years of the permit to substantiate water use. Once the permitted withdrawal is well documented, the permit holder is issued a “license” to withdraw from surface water sources and is required to submit a “report of licensee” once every three years that documents monthly withdrawals over the last three-year period. Water rights acquired prior to 1914 and riparian water right holders are requested to report but are not required to do so. Total groundwater extractions in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties that are in excess of 25 acre-feet per calendar year (or greater than 10 acre-feet per year from any single withdrawal point) are required to be filed with the State Water Resources Control Board within the first six months of the succeeding year. Surface water withdrawal of any amount must be reported except for the exempted water rights mentioned above. These regulations apply statewide for surface water but only to the four counties mentioned
in state water code for groundwater. Many other agencies in California besides the State Water Resources Control Board collect water use information for their own purposes. Other groundwater basins have been adjudicated throughout California, and regional “water masters” have been designated by the courts to maintain groundwater extraction data. California’s multiagency water management organizational structure, the number of its water users, and its complex water-transfer infrastructure combine to create a complex water use information environment.
Colorado has the legal authority to permit withdrawals, and it may require reporting of diversions of any magnitude at any location where a surface water or groundwater withdrawal occurs. Records are maintained for all major surface water deliveries. Groundwater withdrawal data are generally not required, except in the Arkansas River basin where monthly withdrawals are required for all wells pumping greater than 50 gallons per minute. Water permits are obtained statewide in the same manner for surface water as for groundwater. The location of any point of diversion may be requested by the state engineer; however, latitude and longitude generally are not required. Township, range, section, and quarter-quarter-quarter section are requested for wells. The state maintains a water use database that consists of withdrawal information originally collected at specific points of diversion, then aggregated by water district and forwarded to the state by the seven division offices. The state makes periodic site measurements and checks on site data recorders. Power companies provide electric consumption data for well pumpage calculations.
Connecticut has the legal authority to permit or register withdrawals. Public water use is reported to the state for users using greater than 50,000 gallons per day, with data being recorded monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the user. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. The state maintains a water use database for public water supply but not for other water use categories.
Delaware has a water use permitting program, requires the collection of data, and maintains a water use database. Monthly water use data are reported annually for any facility drawing 50,000 gallons per day or more, for all water use categories except for domestic and livestock. Both surface and groundwater use data are compiled on a similar basis. Locations of wells and water use intakes are plotted on maps. Data consistency is checked by comparison with the previous year’s data at the same withdrawal site.
The District of Columbia has a permitting program for well construction; however, it has no authority for collecting withdrawal (or any other) data once the well is permitted. Little groundwater is pumped in the District except for dewater-
ing or for cleanup of contaminated sites. Public water supply is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Washington Aqueduct operations. This water comes entirely from two surface water intakes on the Potomac River located in Maryland at Little Falls and Great Falls. Monthly withdrawal information from these intakes is reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment in accordance with Maryland laws (see below).
Florida has a water use permitting program managed by five water management districts that collectively cover the state. Rules regarding trigger levels for requiring permits and the degree of reporting of water use data vary from one district to another, with the rules being more stringent in critical water use areas. In general, permits are required for all users having the capacity to use 1 million gallons per day and for all wells greater than six inches in diameter. Water use data are reported monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on the water management district, with the exception of agricultural water use, which is collected only in some areas of the state. A database of latitude and longitude of public water supply users has been compiled, but similar location data are not generally available for other water use categories. Some data checking is done by comparison with the past year’s water withdrawals.
Georgia has a water use permitting program, requires the collection of data, and maintains separate databases for surface water and groundwater use. Data are compiled annually for all users withdrawing at least 100,000 gallons per day for public, industrial, commercial, and power water use, but not for irrigation, livestock, and domestic use. Laws apply statewide in the same manner for surface and groundwater.
Hawaii has a water use permitting program and requires the collection of monthly water use data in all water use categories for uses exceeding 1,000 gallons per day. Laws apply statewide in the same manner for surface and groundwater. The database is updated monthly to quarterly, depending on the receipt of water withdrawal data. The latitude and longitude of wells are recorded; this information will be required for surface water intakes in the future.
Idaho has the legal authority to permit or register withdrawals, data are reported to the state, and a water use database is being constructed. Data reporting is required of any single- or multiple-user water system having an instantaneous diversion rate of at least 0.24 cubic feet per second (108 gallons per minute), or which is irrigating more than five acres in area. Water use regulation is mandatory for all diversions within the Eastern Snake Plain aquifer boundaries and for some diversions outside this area. The law applies similarly to surface and groundwater. The database will be updated annually. Latitude and longitude locations of wells are required and are verified using global positioning system
technology. Location coordinates for surface water intakes will be required in the future. Withdrawal data are checked against water right permit limits.
Illinois does not have legal authority to permit or register withdrawals, but it does have an Illinois Water Inventory program administered by the Illinois State Water Survey. This inventory covers public water supply wells and surface water intakes, high-capacity (more than 70 gallon per minute) private wells, and surface water intakes for industry, commercial establishments, and fish and wildlife management areas. Annual water use data have been surveyed since 1978 and are stored in a Public Industrial-Commercial Survey database using township-range-section location coordinates. Agricultural water use is not systematically surveyed, except in some project areas. A separate private well database for wells with a capacity of less than 70 gallons per minute has recently been established.
Indiana has the legal authority to register water withdrawals and collects monthly data on all water use categories for any facility capable of withdrawing 100,000 gallons per day. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. The water use database is updated annually. Locations of wells and surface intakes reported in Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates are required. The state tracks changes in withdrawals by comparing the current year’s withdrawal to the previous year’s withdrawal at the same site.
Iowa has a water use permit program, except for agricultural or irrigation water withdrawals from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, which do not require a permit. The state requires annual reporting of water use for all water uses exceeding 25,000 gallons per day. There are special threshold provisions for withdrawals from the Dakota and Jordan sandstone aquifers. Locations of wells and surface water intakes are specified by township, range, and section, but the latitude and longitude of these points are not reported. Some data checking is done against permitted usage rate and usage reports from water suppliers. The state maintains a database, which is updated annually.
Kansas has a water use permit program and collects water use data annually from all permitted water users. Annual reports for public water supply and industrial uses include monthly data. There is no lower trigger level for requiring water use reporting; all permitted users except those with domestic water rights must file an annual water use report or be fined. Permits are required for livestock water use at operations having 1,000 head or more of cattle or using at least 15 acre-feet per year for other kinds of livestock. Permits are not required for domestic use, or for public water suppliers with fewer than 10 connections. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Some areas of the state are closed to new appropriations. Latitude and longitude of wells and surface water intakes are assigned by the state and are verified using
global positioning system technology. The water use database is updated on a continuing basis as reports are received. Annual publications of irrigation and public water use data contain five-year averages for irrigation application rates, per capita use, and unaccounted-for water (Kansas Water Office and Kansas State Department of Agriculture, 2001; Kansas Water Office and USGS, 2001).
Kentucky has a water-withdrawal permitting program and collects water withdrawal data for public water supply, industrial, commercial, and mining water use, but not for thermoelectric, livestock, domestic, or aquaculture water use. The average daily water withdrawal is reported twice a year for uses exceeding 10,000 gallons per day. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Latitude and longitude coordinates of wells and surface water intakes are requested but are not often supplied. Public water supply data are sometimes checked against drinking water monthly operating reports.
Louisiana has the legal authority to register and collect water use information from wells. The state collects water use data for both surface and groundwater withdrawals, although no statute exists to cover surface water information. Facilities using more than 1 million gallons per day report withdrawal information quarterly; all other facilities receive a questionnaire every five years. Aggregate information also is collected at five-year intervals. The reporting program is statewide in coverage for both surface and groundwater. Monthly water use data are collected in the Baton Rouge area by the Capital Area Ground Water Commission. The latitude and longitude location of the measuring point are provided when wells are registered. The state has an ongoing program to collect latitude/ longitude information for other facilities. The state and USGS maintain a database that is updated completely every five years. Data from the major facilities (greater than 1 million gallons per day) are updated quarterly. Data are checked by comparison with previous years’ values, with typical use by similar facilities, and with data from other agencies or programs such as the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, Louisiana Department of Agriculture Extension Service, and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Maine does not have the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals. Public water use data are reported to the state. Public water supply data are recorded monthly and are reported annually for surface water and groundwater withdrawals for most public water utilities.
Maryland has a water use permit program for public water supply, industrial, commercial, irrigation, and power water uses, but not for domestic and livestock water use. The state maintains a water use database for which twice a year, the six-month total of water use is reported to the state. Permit holders
using more than 10,000 gallons per day are required to submit reports. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Latitude and longitude coordinates of wells and surface water intakes are required, but the location for groundwater withdrawal may be the centroid of a well field, rather than the location of each individual well. Data are checked against the previous year’s water use amount and against the permitted amount.
Massachusetts has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals. The state requires water use reporting for public, industrial, commercial, irrigation, and livestock water use, but not for domestic and power water use. Monthly water use is reported annually for all users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day, except for public use, where use is reported if at least 25 people or 15 connections are served. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Latitude and longitude data are recorded for wells and surface-water intakes for public supply, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and livestock water users. Water withdrawal data are checked by the state against the previous year’s withdrawal amount, and background data, such as the presence of new wells, new owners, and corrections to the latitude and longitude, are also checked.
Michigan has the legal authority to register water withdrawals. Water use data are reported to the state for public water supply, industrial, and power use, but not for commercial, domestic, irrigation, and livestock with use. Irrigation is currently a split category; golf course irrigators are required to report annual water use, while agricultural irrigators are not. Monthly data are reported for any facility capable of withdrawing 100,000 gallons per day in any 30-day period. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Latitude and longitude coordinates of wells and surface water intakes are not recorded.
Minnesota has a water use permit program and collects monthly water use data through an annual reporting process for all water uses exceeding 10,000 gallons per day or 1 million gallons per year. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Location data for wells and surface water intakes are stored in the form of township, range, section, and quarter section down to the nearest 10 acres. A state database of reported water withdrawals is updated annually if staff are available. Some data are field checked and a web page (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/programs/water_mgt_section/appropriations/wateruse.html) shows trends in use over time for several water use categories.
Mississippi has a water use permit program for all users of surface water and groundwater. Permits are not required for groundwater wells less than six inches
in diameter. Laws are applicable statewide. Annual water use is reported yearly on a voluntary basis. Public water supply withdrawal points are recorded by latitude and longitude, using global positioning system technology, and also are recorded by township, range, and section. All other permitted withdrawal points are indexed by township, range, and section. Withdrawal data are checked by comparison with the corresponding data for the previous year.
Missouri has the legal authority to require users of 100,000 gallons per day or more to register with the state and report usage annually. However, this is largely a voluntary program. The state maintains a database of annual water use by these users. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Location coordinates are not required, but many users file latitude and longitude coordinates or township, range, and section location. Withdrawal data are checked by comparison with the corresponding data for the previous year and by looking for outlier data values.
Montana has a water permit program for new water uses. This is a one-time permit for all future years and is not annually renewed. The state does not maintain a water use database. Some new water users are required to submit usage data “at the request of the department.” There is no requirement to report latitude and longitude of the water withdrawal. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. Reported data, where available, are checked against permit limits.
Nebraska has the legal authority to permit or register withdrawals for surface water use, without the use of a trigger level. Records of locations of surface water points of diversion and groundwater wells are required. Surface water withdrawals in some basins, such as the Republican River basin, are reported to the state. Some information on public water suppliers is collected by the Nebraska Health Department. The state maintains an annual water use database. Laws are different for surface water (prior appropriation) and groundwater (correlative rights). Locations of points of diversion and groundwater wells are required, but they are not stored as latitude-longitude coordinates. An effort is being mounted to obtain the latitude and longitude of public water supply points. The state tracks changes in water withdrawals through time.
Nevada has a water use permit system for all water use categories except domestic water use. The state engineer determines who must report water use, based on the withdrawal amount. Monthly, quarterly, or annual data may be required, depending on the permit. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface and groundwater. The state does not maintain a water use database. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the water withdrawal locations are not recorded.
New Hampshire has the legal authority to register water withdrawal for all water users exceeding 20,000 gallons per day averaged over a seven-day period. Permits are required only for groundwater withdrawals exceeding 57,600 gallons per day. The state collects monthly water use data on an annual basis for all registered and permitted users. The latitude and longitude of water use sites are stored in a specially designed New England Water Use Database System, which besides water use includes points of water discharge, locations of treatment plants and major distribution system facilities, and their linkage with one another so that the movement of water can be traced from point of withdrawal from the natural water system, through the infrastructure water system, to the point of discharge to the natural water system again (see Chapter 7 of this report for more information on this data system).
New Jersey has a water permit system for all water uses and collects monthly water use data for users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day (or capable of pumping 70 gallons per minute). The USGS maintains a water use database for the state that is being updated continually as new data come in. Latitude and longitude coordinates of all withdrawal points are recorded. Water use data are checked for users renewing or modifying a permit and for users in the proximity of a new water allocation permit.
New Mexico has a water permit system for all water uses. All permit holders regardless of level of use are required to report water use to the state on a quarterly or annual basis, except for domestic wells using less than 3 acre-feet per year and most irrigation water rights. All irrigation wells in the Roswell Artesian Basin are metered by court decree, and the owners are required to report usage. The state engineer may assume jurisdiction over water appropriation and use in other areas by “declaring” any groundwater basin with reasonably defined boundaries. Wells in declared basins may only be drilled with a permit, and they can only be drilled by well drillers licensed by the state engineer. Approximately 40 percent of water right holders are noncompliant about reporting their usage. Some reported withdrawals are monitored to ensure they do not exceed water right allocations. The state is entering available site-specific water use data into its database. This database includes the legal description (township, range, section) of the diversion points. The state also maintains separate databases for compiling five-year summaries of water use by category, county, and river basin. Data for the five-year inventories are compared to previously reported values in order to detect reporting errors or significant changes related to economic and population trends. Water use data are analyzed to support regional water demand projections.
New York has three different water use data collection systems depending on location within the state. Public water supply data are collected statewide for
all EPA-regulated systems (more than 25 people served or 15 connections). In Long Island, a set of four counties (Kings, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk) have a special data collection program in which all users of groundwater at pumping rates of greater than 45 gallons per minute are inventoried by the state. In the Great Lakes Basin (42 percent of the state), all water users withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons per day, or having a consumptive use of 2 million gallons over a 30-day period are inventoried by the state. The public water supply database stores annual water use data, is updated every three years, and includes latitude and longitude of the water withdrawal points, although some data are missing. The Long Island database contains annual water use data, is updated annually, and is checked by comparison with the previous year’s water use. Latitude and longitude are stored for groundwater wells, although the value reported may be the centroid for a well field. The Great Lakes region database stores annual water use data, is updated every two years, and does not contain latitude and longitude of the water withdrawal points.
North Carolina has the legal authority to register water use, and water use reporting is mandatory within a critical capacity area for all users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day. Outside this area, water use reporting is voluntary and is requested of users exceeding 1 million gallons per day. Data on public water supply are collected every five years, and data are collected for other categories of water use through the registration program. Laws are applied the same to surface water and groundwater.
North Dakota has a water use permit program for all uses except those for which the amount used is less than 12.5 acre-feet per year and the use is for domestic, livestock, fish, wildlife, or recreation. For all permitted users, annual withdrawals are reported on individual response forms. The same laws apply to both surface and groundwater and are applicable statewide. The state maintains a water use database, which is updated every year when the response forms are returned to the state. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the withdrawal points are not recorded, but the township, range, and section values are required. Spot checks of the data are carried out by field-checking pumpage rates or electric consumption of the user. Reports showing unreasonable amounts of use for a given category or amounts exceeding the permitted amount are checked.
Ohio has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals and collects water use data annually for any facility capable of withdrawing 100,000 gallons per day. The same laws apply to both surface and groundwater and are applicable statewide. Latitude and longitude coordinates of water withdrawal points are recorded. Withdrawal data are checked by comparison with the previous year’s values.
Oklahoma has a water use permit program for all categories except domestic water use. Permit requirements apply statewide for both surface water and groundwater, although ground water is considered a property right and surface water is considered to be publicly owned. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) maintains latitude and longitude locations of withdrawal points, which are determined from legal descriptions using conversion programs. Water use data are requested annually for any magnitude of use by all permitted water users; about 60 percent of the annual surveys are returned to the state. The OWRB maintains a water use database that is updated annually. Reported data are not checked against other information; however, surface water withdrawals are subject to annual review. The exception to the OWRB permitting and reporting requirement is for surface water withdrawals in the Grand River basin, which are under the jurisdiction of the Grand River Dam Authority. The GRDA maintains some records of surface water sales in the Grand River basin.
Oregon has a water use permit program and requires water use data of all permit holders. Various trigger levels for reporting are used, such as 15,000 gallons per day for domestic water use of less than 15,000 gallons per day, and 5,000 gallons per day for commercial and industrial water use. Some categories of water use are exempted, such as livestock watering and fisheries management. The reporting requirements are consistent statewide and require monthly water use data to be reported annually. The state locates diversions using township, range, section, quarter section, and quarter-quarter section values, and it is locating significant water withdrawal points using global positioning system (GPS) technology. The USGS and the state are using GPS to record well locations for specific groundwater projects. The water use database is updated continually as new reports are received.
Pennsylvania regulates public water supply only at the state level, with other categories of water use being regulated by the Delaware and Susquehanna River Basin Commissions, within the boundaries of those river basins. The two river basin commissions have the authority to register all water users exceeding 10,000 gallons per day and to permit water uses for all water users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day. The Susquehanna Commission has the authority to regulate all consumptive users of greater than 20,000 gallons per day. The Delaware River Basin Commission has authority to regulate water use for groundwater users exceeding 10,000 gallons per day in a special groundwater use area. The frequency of reporting water use data varies, with the Delaware Commission requiring annual reports and the Susquehanna Commission requiring monthly, quarterly, or annual reports, depending on the user. Some data checking is performed against permit levels and the past year’s data as new water use data are stored.
Puerto Rico has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals; it maintains a water use database for all water uses regardless of the amount of use. The frequency of reporting water use data varies, depending on the amount of water withdrawn, the use, and the source of water. There is a fee assigned to the user depending on the water use, but the fee does not apply to water used in agricultural activities. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface water and groundwater. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the withdrawal points are not recorded. Data reports are completely revised every three to five years at the time of permit renewal.
Rhode Island has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals for public water use only; it does not have this authority for any other usage category. The state requires collection of public water use data for users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day, regardless of whether the source is surface water or groundwater. The state does not maintain a water use database on an ongoing basis.
South Carolina has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals for all categories of water use. Data are recorded quarterly, or monthly during times of extremely low stream flow, for users that exceed 3 million gallons in any month (or approximately 100,000 gallons per day). Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface water and groundwater. The state maintains a water database on an ongoing basis. Latitude and longitude coordinates of withdrawal points are not required. Data are checked against the previous year’s use and are summarized in a data report every one to three years.
South Dakota has a water use permit program for all categories of water use except domestic use. The state collects annual water use data from the largest public water supply systems and from all irrigation users, and every five years the state requests data voluntarily from other water users using questionnaires. Laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface water and groundwater. Well and surface water intake locations have township-range-section values as part of the permit application, and these locations are converted to latitude and longitude by the state or USGS. Irrigation water use data are used collectively to determine whether water is available from a particular source for further appropriations, and individual irrigation water use data are used to determine whether an existing right is still active or subject to cancellation due to nonuse. No metering is required. The state maintains a database, updated annually, of irrigation withdrawals. The USGS maintains a site-specific database of public water supply, industrial, thermoelectric, and irrigation data. Sometimes, during enforcement actions, water use data are checked against power consumption data.
Tennessee does not have the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals. Public water use data are reported to the state, and the USGS
maintains a public water supply database. Public water supply data are recorded monthly and are reported annually for all surface water withdrawals and for groundwater withdrawals for systems serving more than 50 people. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the withdrawal points are recorded both for wells and surface water intakes.
Texas has legal authority to permit surface water use throughout the state, but groundwater use permits are required only in particular groundwater conservation districts. Water use data for municipal and industrial uses have been voluntarily submitted to the state for many years, but beginning in November 2001, water use data collection is mandatory for both surface water and groundwater users. Monthly water withdrawals are requested, but often only annual data are supplied. There has been no specified trigger level for water use data collection since data collection has been voluntary. The state maintains a water use database, which is updated annually. The locations of groundwater wells and surface water intakes are shown on maps. As part of a statewide water availability study, latitude and longitude coordinates of all permitted surface water diversion points are being determined. Changes in water use from year to year are tracked in a quality assurance process, and revisions to the data are made when necessary.
Utah has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals for all categories of water use. Annual water use data are collected for all water users exceeding 20 acre-feet per year, except for domestic, livestock, and irrigation use. Irrigation water use is estimated by the USGS using pumpage inventories and electric consumption records. These data are provided to the state and are published annually. A special emphasis in data collection is made for areas where groundwater management plans have been developed. Surface water withdrawals are monitored by river basin commissioners or local water entities. Well locations and surface water intakes are located by township-range-section but not by latitude and longitude. Water use data are checked and updated as water rights change and as large changes in withdrawals are noted from the previous year. The data are also checked and updated using field reviews.
Vermont does not have the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals. Water use data are not reported to the state. Water use data for Vermont have been compiled by the USGS and incorporated within the New England Water-Use Data System in the same format as that for New Hampshire (see Chapter 7 of this report for more information on this data system).
Virginia maintains a water use register for all categories of water use except domestic. Monthly data are reported annually to the state for users whose average withdrawal rate exceeds 10,000 gallons per day for any single month and for irrigators whose use exceeds 1 million gallons per month. The procedure is
applicable statewide and it is the same for surface water and groundwater, with the exception of two coastal Ground Water Management Areas, where withdrawals of greater than 300,000 gallons per month must be reported. The locations of wells and surface water intakes must be shown on a map, and the latitude and longitude are requested if known by the user.
Washington has the legal authority to register the construction of wells, and permits are required for any use other than single-family domestic withdrawals. Water use data are not reported to the state.
West Virginia does not have the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals. Public water use data are not reported to the state.
Wisconsin has the legal authority to permit or register water withdrawals for public water supply, industrial, and power use only; it does not have this authority for commercial, domestic, irrigation, or livestock use. Water use data are reported to the state annually for all public supplies, for industrial water users exceeding 100,000 gallons per day, and for all thermoelectric power facilities. The laws are applicable statewide and are the same for surface water and groundwater. A water use database is maintained on an ongoing basis, but whether latitude and longitude of water withdrawal points are stored in the database is unknown. Water use data for public water supplies are checked against the previous year’s water use.
Wyoming has a prior appropriations doctrine that requires permits for beneficial use of water. The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office maintains a database of permit information, which is useful for developing USGS water use estimates. Permits are required both for surface and groundwater use, although a usage rate of less than 25 gallons per minute is considered domestic water use and has a simpler permit process. The Wyoming Water Development Commission conducts a biannual survey of public water systems (see http://wwdc.state.wy.us/watsys/2000/raterept.html for the 2000 report), and in alternate years it conducts a similar survey of agricultural water use. These surveys contain annual water use data and a significant amount of ancillary information about each water user. Latitude and longitude data have been collected for public water supplies but generally not for other water users.
