Progress toward establishing a national assessment of water availability and use (original) (raw)
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The National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program
Natural Sciences Education
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An Analysis of the Water Situation in the United States: 1989-2040
Several Federal agencies have historically had responsibilities for conducting assessments of the Nation's water resources. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service (SCS), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its predecessor agencies, among others, have conducted studies assessing the current situation and future prospects for water in particular regions of the country. Responsibility for national water assessments was assigned to the U.S. Water Resources Council (WRC) by the Water Resources Planning Act of 1965. With the demise of the WRC in 1981, several member agencies have attempted to take over parts of the WRC role and improve their own analyses. USGS began to publish an annual National Water Summary in 1984. The first three annual reports, Water-Supply Paper 2250 (USGS 1984), 2275 (USGS 1985), and 2300 (USGS 1986), have been used extensively in the preparation of this Asse...
Assessing Water Resource Issues Among States in the US South East Region
Marine Science, 2020
The US Southeast region is endowed with vast deposits of water resource assets located in numerous states. Considering the growing water use to serve rapidly expanding land uses from agriculture, residential areas, thermoelectric to industrial facilities. Over the years, the demand for water to meet the needs of various sectors in the zone has precipitated increased withdrawals, declining levels in aquifers and sectorial imbalance in the distribution. Accordingly, sectorial imbalance and stress attributed to socioeconomic , physical and ecological parameters is now being felt in the areas many considered fully endowed with hydrological assets and less vulnerable to depletion. Beset by the management implications of the trends, various agencies in the zone have stepped up mitigation measures. Notwithstanding the gravity of the challenges and the fact that most studies are still festooned with projected depletion patterns in the US arid West, very little work exists in the literature on the changing patterns in water resource use in the Southeast region using a mix scale model. For that, this research will fill that void by assessing the variabilities in water resource use among some states in the Southeast. With emphasis on the issues, trends, factors, and impacts, the study uses secondary info from major data agencies analyzed by mix scale techniques of descriptive statistics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess the tendencies. The results point to changes in usage among the sectors in the form of gains and declines, the emergence of hydroelectricity and irrigation as the largest users, the dominance of Florida, regional dependence on surface water sources, evidence of depletion and spatial dispersion of these trends across the states. With these changes attributed to various elements, the paper offered suggestions ranging from water conservation measures, the adoption of efficient polices to the design of a regional hydrological information system.
Analyzing Water Resources Management Issues Along the US Midwest Region
Resources and Environment, 2022
The US Midwest region known for its vast network of arable farmland ranks high as the food basket of the nation and a global agricultural hub. The area stretches through a multiplicity of states and sub regions. With the intense level of farming and good soil therein, water access and security are overly crucial considering the region's water dependent sectors from agriculture, industry, residential, energy, commercial establishments, and others with notable benefits to the communities. Notwithstanding all that, there exists a wide range of challenges to hydrological security deeply rooted in water management in the US Midwest region. The emergent worries center around declining water quality triggered by decaying infrastructure, pollution, the risks of flooding emanating from changing climate and access deprivation with spillovers to minority communities. Despite its vast network of lakes and reservoirs together with global and regional capacity as key water source, the zone faces vast concentration of usage in a few sectors. This comes in the wake of policies centered on continual access to key water assets germane to the communities and states in the region, mostly to agriculture, as well as industrial and manufacturing sectors. At the same time, very little in the literature exists on the analysis of water resource use issues in the zone via a mix scale approach anchored in Geographic Information System (GIS) and descriptive statistics. Accordingly, this enquiry will fill that void in research using mix scale methods to assess the trends. With emphasis on the issues, trends, factors, impacts, and the efforts of institutions. The results point to abundance of water assets in the zone and visible changes in usage over time in the form of gains and declines. In terms of the impacts, the region saw degradation, declines, and stress from climate change. In the process, a GIS mapping of the trends pinpointed a gradual dispersion of water use patterns of varying dimensions clustered in the region. Given that the forces of change reflect socioeconomic , ecological, physical, and political factors located within the larger hydrological structure. The paper proffered solutions ranging from education, monitoring, sustainability, the design of a regional water information system and the enactment of sound policy.
The role of ground water in resources planning in the western United States
Open-File Report
Water resources generally are classified as surface water and ground water, but such a close relationship exists between them that they should not be treated individually as unique sources of water. A change in the regimen of either will generally affect the other. The renewable water supply of a region is the sum of the surfacewater runoff, the groundwater outflow, and the natural evapotranspiration. The runoff, or water yield, of a region and part of the natural evapotranspiration represent most of the water that can be controlled or modified to a degree by man. Vast supplies of grourd water are present in most subregions, but this supply cannot be used without causing a decrease in surface runoff or in evapotranspiration, or both. Conversely, surface water generally cannot be used without affecting ground water. The use of ground water does not add to the perennial water supply, but it can be an effective method of improving surface-water management and control of noneccnomi c evapotranspi rat ion. Where ground water is "mined," it can provide a water supply at rates that greatly exceed the rate of replenishment for a limited time. the potential for new development is an important part of groundwater management. Water-resources problems most frequently described by Westwide participants include: (1) seasonal variations in streamflow, including both floods and seasonal shortages of water; (2) a need to determine instream flow requirements for fish and wildlife, outdoor recreation, and salinity control; (3) inadequate supplies or water of poor chemical quality for small cities and towns; (4) increasing demand for water for energy development; (5) increasing salinity of water in major river basins; (6) a need to determine Indian water requirements and the impact of meeting the requirements on distribution of supplies,; (7) a need for conservation and reuse of water supplies; (8) a need for more effective flood plain management; (9) localized needs for additional flat-water recreation opportunities; (10) a need for preservation of additional wild and scenic rivers and wilderness areas; and (11) a need for more effective land-and waterresource planning and management.
Water demand, supply, and quality in the United States: sustainability of water uses
International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 2007
The purpose of this paper is to develop, from a very wide variety of public data, a synthesis of the status of water supply, demand, and quality for the United States from 1985 to the present, in an effort to obtain a dynamic baseline for assessing the sustainability of multiple water uses. Although the United States has relatively ample supplies of water, it is likely that deficits will occur in areas with increasing population and economic development. Variations in population, industrial, and agricultural production are driven by internal and external factors among which water probably causes the largest disruptions because of the inability to adapt to those changes. Climate changes due to global and regional warming trends also have major impacts on water availability and quality, although they are less sudden than structural changes in the economy. To help frame a baseline from which those changes can be measured to assess its sustainability for the population of the United States, we summarize the most salient findings about the status of US water supply, demand, and quality at the level of the water resource regions, and states over a period of approximately 20 years. Our synthesis of the data collected by the US agencies indicates that water quality is improving and the supply of water for the United States is generally good. However, shortages of water predicted from linear extrapolations of past trends, appear principally to affect the western water resource regions. Using US Census Bureau 'high population' forecasts, water shortages may be felt earlier and in more water resource regions than previously expected. These conclusions implicitly take into account changes in the US economy during the mid-eighties but do not account for: regional-scale climate, legal low-flow requirements, or other non-routine occurrences.
Open-File Report
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is committed to providing the Nation with reliable scientific information that helps to enhance and protect the overall quality of life and that facilitates effective management of water, biological, energy, and mineral resources (http://www.usgs.gov). Information on the Nation's water resources is critical to ensuring long-term availability of water that is safe for drinking and recreation and is suitable for industry, irrigation, and fish and wildlife. Population growth and increasing demands for water make the availability of that water, now measured in terms of quantity and quality, even more essential to the long-term sustainability of our communities and ecosystems. The USGS implemented the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991 to support national, regional, state, and local information needs and decisions related to water-quality management and policy (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa). The NAWQA Program is designed to answer: What is the quality of our Nation's streams and ground water? How are conditions changing over time? How do natural features and human activities affect the quality of streams and ground water, and where are those effects most pronounced? By combining information on water chemistry, physical characteristics, stream habitat, and aquatic life, the NAWQA Program aims to provide science-based insights for current and emerging water issues and priorities. From 1991 to 2001, the NAWQA Program completed interdisciplinary assessments and established a baseline understanding of water-quality conditions in 51 of the Nation's river basins and aquifers, referred to as Study Units (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/ studyu.html). National and regional assessments are ongoing in the second decade (2001-2012) of the NAWQA Program as 42 of the 51 Study Units are reassessed. These assessments extend the findings in the Study Units by determining status and trends at sites that have been consistently monitored for more than a decade, and filling critical gaps in characterizing the quality of surface water and ground water. For example, increased emphasis has been placed on assessing the quality of source water and finished water associated with many of the Nation's largest community water systems. During the second decade, NAWQA is addressing five national priority topics that build an understanding of how natural features and human activities affect water quality, and establish links between sources of contaminants, the transport of those contaminants through the hydrologic system, and the potential effects of contaminants on humans and aquatic ecosystems. Included are topics on the fate of agricultural chemicals, effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems, bioaccumulation of mercury in stream ecosystems, effects of nutrient enrichment on aquatic ecosystems, and transport of contaminants to public-supply wells. In addition, national syntheses of information on pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nutrients, selected trace elements, and aquatic ecology are continuing. The USGS aims to disseminate credible, timely, and relevant science information to address practical and effective water-resource management and strategies that protect and restore water quality. We hope this NAWQA publication will provide you with insights and information to meet your needs, and will foster increased citizen awareness and involvement in the protection and restoration of our Nation's waters. The USGS recognizes that a national assessment by a single program cannot address all water-resource issues of interest. External coordination at all levels is critical for cost-effective management, regulation, and conservation of our Nation's water resources. The NAWQA Program, therefore, depends on advice and information from other agencies-Federal, state, regional, interstate, Tribal, and local-as well as nongovernmental organizations, industry, academia, and other stakeholder groups. Your assistance and suggestions are greatly appreciated.