Wisconsin Water-Use Information Program
Project Number: 9KH51
Project Chief: Charles P. Dunning; Cheryl A. Buchwald
Project Topics: water use
Cooperators: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Period of Project: March 1978–Continuing
Website: Water Use in Wisconsin
Problem
It has become increasingly apparent that to meet growing water demands, established water infrastructure and limited water supply must be managed more effectively. "New" future water supplies will likely consider conservation, recycling, reuse, and improving water-use efficiency rather than from ambitious development projects.
As a result, a transition is underway to an era of "integrated water-resources management" that balances traditional supply-management options with progressive demand-management options. These approaches require that water-resource managers and hydrologists have comprehensive, unbiased, and reliable water-use data to balance the competition between traditional uses and new recreational and environmental uses.
Objectives
The U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Use Information Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the nation's water-use data. The USGS works in cooperation with local, state, and federal environmental agencies to collect water-use information at a site-specific level. The USGS Wisconsin Water Science Center (WI WSC) compiles hundreds of thousands of site-specific data to produce water-use information aggregated to the county and state levels, and, although less frequently, by hydrologic subbasin and by aquifer system. Every 5 years, data for Wisconsin are compiled into a national water-use data system and are published in a state summary report and national circular.
Specific objectives of the Wisconsin Water-Use Information Program are to:
- Analyze the source, use, and disposition of water resources
- Reply to water-use information requests
- Document Wisconsin trends in water use
- Cooperate with local, state and other federal agencies on hydrologic projects
- Develop water-use databases
- Publish the 5-year Wisconsin water-use data report
Approach
Analyze the source, use, and disposition of Wisconsin’s water resources at local and state levels. The best available data is compiled, evaluated, and managed in USGS databases. The means of collecting water-use data, and its resulting accuracy, is constantly evaluated.
Progress
The database was updated with finalized 2005 water-use data. These data included high-capacity well data, public-supply information, and data used to estimate irrigation water use.
Plans
Plans include: (1) continue to update and maintain the database with current water-use data, (2) supply water-use data for water-resources studies currently being conducted in the state, and (3) finalize the water-use report, “Water Use in Wisconsin, 2005.” A thorough re-evaluation of the water-use project is planned, as is an aggressive program for identifying new ways of compiling data. We will work with the State of Wisconsin to maximize the effectiveness of those aspects of the recent water-quantity legislation intended to provide accurate and complete estimates of water use around the state. At the federal level there is growing interest in quantifying water use by aquifer as well as by the traditional use categories.
Publications and Reports
Ellefson, B.R., Mueller, G.D., and Buchwald, C.A., 2002, Water use in Wisconsin, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02–356, 1 sheet, scale 1:5,000,000.
Ellefson, B.R., Fan, C.H., and Ripley, J.L., 1995, Water use in Wisconsin, 1995: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97–356, 1 sheet, scale 1:5,000,000.
Ellefson, B.R., Sabin, T.J., and Krohelski, J.T., 1993, Water use in Wisconsin, 1990: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93–118, 1 sheet, scale 1:5,000,000.
Ellefson, B.R., Rury, K.S., and Krohelski, J.T., 1988, Water-use in Wisconsin, 1985: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87–699, 1 sheet, scale 1:5,000,000.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1990, National Water Summary, 1987: Hydrologic events and water supply and use: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2350, 553 p.
Krohelski, J.T., Ellefson, B.R., and Storlie, C.A., 1987, Estimated use of ground water for irrigation in Wisconsin, 1984: U.S. Geological Survey Water- Resources Investigations Report 86–4079, 12 p., 1 pl.
Lawrence, C.L., and Ellefson, B.R., 1984, Public-supply pumpage in Wisconsin, by aquifer: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83–931, 40 p.
Lawrence, C.L., and Ellefson, B.R., 1982, Water use in Wisconsin, 1979: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 82–444, 98 p.
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