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Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals in
Oklahoma, 2000
by Robert L. Tortorelli

Introduction

This web page presents 2000 freshwater withdrawal estimates for Oklahoma by source and category. Withdrawal source is either ground water or surface water. Withdrawal categories include: irrigation, water supply, livestock and aquaculture, thermoelectric-power generation, domestic and commercial, and industrial and mining. Withdrawal data are aggregated and tabulated by county, principal river basin, and major aquifer. Total withdrawals and three major categories of irrigation, water supply, and livestock, also are presented in ranked order for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the National Water-Use Information Program in 1977 to collect uniform, current, and reliable information on water use. The USGS has compiled national estimates every 5 years since 1950. The most recent national water use compilation is for 2000 (Hutson and others, 2004). The data presented here are the result of the 2000 compilation effort for Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Water Science Center of the USGS and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board participate in a cooperative program to collect and publish water-use information for Oklahoma. Data contained in this web page were made available through the cooperative program.

Terminology

Withdrawal is the amount of water withdrawn or diverted from a ground- or surface-water source. Use is the amount of water that is brought into a facility (or to an irrigation area) for use, and is equal to the withdrawal plus delivery from water suppliers minus any loss that occurred prior to use. Fresh water is defined as water containing less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids.

Approach

Water-use data were estimated using 2000 Oklahoma Water Resources Board data as the primary data source. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board collects water-use data through an annual survey of permitted water users.

See a more detailed discussion of the approach used to compile water use data.

Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals

During 2000 in Oklahoma:

• Total quantity of freshwater withdrawals for all purposes was estimated to be 1,772 million gallons per day.
• Total surface-water withdrawals were estimated to be 998.4 million gallons per day or 56 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.
• Total ground-water withdrawals were about 773.7 million gallons per day or 44 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.

For the top four withdrawal categories:

• Irrigation withdrawals accounted for 40 percent of total withdrawals and for 73 percent of ground-water withdrawals.
• Water-supply withdrawals accounted for 38 percent of total withdrawals. Ground water was the source for 17 percent and surface water was the source for 83 percent of water-supply withdrawals.
• Livestock withdrawals accounted for 9 percent of the total withdrawals.
• Thermoelectric-power generation accounted for 8 percent of total withdrawals.

For the top three counties the largest amount of fresh water withdrawn for:

• Irrigation purposes was in Texas County, followed by Jackson and Cimarron Counties.
• Water-supply purposes was in Mayes County, followed by Oklahoma and Atoka Counties.
• Livestock and Aquaculture purposes was in Texas, Bryan, and Johnston Counties.
• Thermoelectric-power generation purposes was in Muskogee County, followed by Seminole, and Rogers Counties, which accounted for over 65 percent of the withdrawals.

TABLES

Table 1: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 2000 by county , use, and source for the 77 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 2: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 2000 by principal river basin and use for the 10 principal river basins in Oklahoma.

Table 3: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 2000 by aquifer and use for 8 major and 2 minor aquifers in Oklahoma.

Table 4: Amount of total estimated freshwater withdrawals for 2000 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 5: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for irrigation in 2000 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 6: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for water supply in 2000 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 7: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for livestock in 2000 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Information Resources

• Water Use in the United States ()
• Water-Use Concepts
• Glossary of Water-Use Terms ()
• National Handbook on Water Data Acquistion ()