New in GWRP

• Regional Groundwater Studies
  • Groundwater Availability in the United States
• Water Availability Pilot
  • Consumptive water use coefficients for Great Lakes Basin
• Groundwater & the Environment
  • Groundwater 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 Groundwater Availability Studies

Groundwater is among the Nation's most important natural resources. It provides half our drinking water and is essential to the vitality of agriculture and industry, as well as to the health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries throughout the country. Large-scale development of groundwater resources with accompanying declines in groundwater levels and other effects of pumping has led to concerns about the future availability of ground water to meet domestic, agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs. The challenges in determining groundwater availability are many. Learn more about what is known about the Nation's groundwater availability and GWRP's program to improve our understanding of groundwater availability in major aquifers across the Nation:

• Ground-Water Availability in the US (Circular 1323)

Studies in Progress

• Central Valley Aquifer
• Southeast Coastal Plain Aquifer System
• Denver Basin Aquifer
• Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study
• Great Basin Carbonate and Alluvial Aquifer System
• Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System
• High Plains Aquifers

Central Valley Aquifer

For more than 50 years, California's Central Valley has been one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. Large increases in population have resulted in greater competition for water within the Central Valley and statewide. The USGS is assessing the groundwater availability of the Central Valley and will quantify the groundwater resources using a variety of tools. The ultimate benefit of this assessment will be a better understanding of how the system responds to current and future human and environmental stresses that will prove useful to water managers in their decision making process related to this valuable resource.

http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/centralvalley.html

Southeast Coastal Plain Aquifer System

Increased groundwater withdrawals related to population growth and drought of the last few years have emphasized the need for more accurate, detailed information describing the groundwater resources in the Coastal Plain in North and South Carolina. In January 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study to combine and update the Regional Aquifer System Analysis (RASA) models of North and South Carolina in order to improve the understanding of groundwater availability in the Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system of both States.

http://nc.water.usgs.gov/projects/rasa_acp/

Denver Basin Aquifers

The Denver groundwater basin is an important and non-renewable source of water for municipal, industrial, and domestic uses in the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas. The USGS is conducting a groundwater availability of the Denver Groundwater Basin to enhance our understanding of regional groundwater flow and aquifer storage, to evaluate current conditions, and predict future conditions.

http://co.water.usgs.gov/projects/BCF00/

Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study

A groundwater flow model of the northern Mississippi embayment is being developed to aid in answering questions about groundwater availability in a study area covering portions of seven states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and Kentucky).

http://ar.water.usgs.gov/sun/meras/index2.php

Great Basin Carbonate and Alluvial Aquifer System

The Great Basin Carbonate and Alluvial Aquifer System Water Availability Study will quantify current groundwater resources, evaluate how those resources have changed over time, and develop tools to assess system responses to stresses from future human uses and climate variability.

http://ut.water.usgs.gov/GBCAAS/GBCAAS.html

Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System

The Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System (CPRAS) covers over 50,000 square miles of eastern Oregon and Washington and western Idaho. The USGS has begun a study of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System to characterize the hydrologic status of the system, identify trends in groundwater storage and use, and 3) quantify groundwater availability.

http://or.water.usgs.gov/projs_dir/cplat/

High Plains Aquifer

A groundwater availability study of the High Plains Aquifer will begin in Fiscal Year 2009.

Completed Studies

• Middle Rio Grande Basin Study

Middle Rio Grande Basin Study - Initial Proof of Concept Study

The Santa Fe Group aquifer system in Central New Mexico is the main source of municipal water for the region. The USGS Middle Rio Grande Basin Study was a 6-year effort (1995-2001) to improve the understanding of the hydrology, geology, and land-surface characteristics of the Middle Rio Grande Basin in order to provide the scientific information needed for water-resources management.

http://nm.water.usgs.gov/projects/middleriogrande/