New in GWRP

• Regional Ground-Water Studies
  • Ground-Water Availability in the United States
• Water Availability Pilot
  • Consumptive water use coefficients for Great Lakes Basin
• Ground Water & the Environment
  • Ground-Water Recharge in Southwestern US
• Methods & Modeling
  • SEAWAT v4--Simulation of 3D variable-density ground--water flow and transport
• Data & Information
  • Water-Level changes in aquifers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, predevelopment to 2000

USGS in Your State

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Regional Ground-Water Studies

The depletion of ground water at a variety of scales and the compounding effects of recent droughts have emphasized the need for an updated status on the availability of the Nation's ground-water resources. Assessing the current state of the ground-water flow systems in the highest stressed systems would be invaluable tools for assessing ground-water availability now and in the future.

The Ground-Water Resources Program (GWRP) is taking advantage of the quantitative work previously conducted by the Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) Program to provide updated quantitative assessments of ground-water availability in areas of critical importance. These assessments will

• document the effects of human activities on water levels, ground-water storage, and discharge to streams and other surface-water bodies,
• explore climate variability impacts on the regional water budget, and
• evaluate the adequacy of data networks to assess impacts at a regional scale.

There is growing recognition by water managers and municipalities that ground-water resources could be managed on an aquifer-wide scale. They are now looking for ways to better manage known ground-water resources while also identifying supplemental sources of water. Upon completion, these multidisciplinary studies of regional ground-water availability across the US will provide resource managers and policy makers with essential information needed for management of a limited resource in areas experiencing chronic water-supply issues and concerns.

Learn more about the regional ground-water studies support by GWRP:

• Map of study locations
• Regional ground-water availability studies
• Water availability & use studies

Map of Study Locations

Figure 1: Map of U.S. Geological Survey Ground-Water Resources Program regional scale ground-water study areas. Explanation indicates the fiscal years during which the studies are planned to occur.