USGS North Carolina Water Science Center

North Carolina Water Science Center

Water Use in North Carolina

The future health and welfare of the Nation's population is dependent upon a continuing supply of uncontaminated fresh water. Increasing withdrawals and increasing demands for instream flows are limiting the water available for future use. More comprehensive water-use data and analysis of water-use information are needed to quantify the stress on existing supplies and to better model and evaluate possible water-supply management options to supplement traditional water-supply approaches.

The USGS compiles water-use data from numerous sources for all parts of the county, and since 1950 has published a series of Circulars on the estimated use of water in the United States at 5-year intervals. These Circulars contain State-level estimates of the amount of public- and self-supplied water used for commercial, domestic, industrial, irrigation, livestock, mining, power generation, and other purposes. The water-use data collected and compiled in North Carolina are an integral part of the nationwide assessment of water supply and demand.

Water Use in North Carolina, 2005

Freshwater use in North Carolina by county, 2005
(Mgal/d, million gallons per day; gal/d, gallons per day)

County

Population (thousands)

Surface-water use (Mgal/d)

Ground-water use (Mgal/d)

Total (Mgal/d)

Per capita use (gal/d)

Alamance

140.533

19.63

4.62

24.25

173

Alexander

35.492

3.77

1.36

5.13

145

Alleghany

10.900

2.98

1.14

4.12

378

Anson

25.499

8.94

1.96

10.90

427

Ashe

25.347

1.00

2.34

3.34

132

Avery

17.641

10.65

1.71

12.36

701

Beaufort

46.018

0.77

83.92

84.69

1,840

Bertie

19.480

3.86

6.66

10.52

540

Bladen

32.938

44.96

11.67

56.63

1,719

Brunswick

89.162

12.98

6.61

19.59

220

Buncombe

218.876

298.55

5.27

303.82

1,388

Burke

89.399

16.09

2.79

18.88

211

Cabarrus

150.244

12.97

4.71

17.68

118

Caldwell

79.122

9.42

2.20

11.62

147

Camden

8.967

0.04

0.82

0.86

Carteret

62.525

0.36

7.51

7.87

126

Caswell

23.608

0.38

2.68

3.06

130

Catawba

151.641

1,176.40

5.79

1,182.19

7,796

Chatham

58.002

153.26

6.09

159.35

2,747

Cherokee

25.796

30.09

1.42

31.51

1,222

Chowan

14.528

4.47

1.57

6.04

416

Clay

9.765

0.31

0.87

1.18

121

Cleveland

98.288

269.93

1.70

271.63

2,764

Columbus

54.746

41.50

7.08

48.58

887

Craven

90.795

17.72

34.62

52.34

576

Cumberland

304.520

35.03

6.13

41.16

135

Currituck

23.112

0.80

2.45

3.25

141

Dare

33.903

0.20

9.37

9.57

282

Davidson

154.623

8.78

3.21

11.99

Davie

39.136

12.33

1.86

14.19

363

Duplin

51.985

15.57

27.99

43.56

838

Durham

242.582

36.31

4.60

40.91

169

Edgecombe

54.129

9.46

5.42

14.88

275

Forsyth

325.967

49.26

5.36

54.62

168

Franklin

54.429

4.16

3.18

7.34

135

Gaston

196.137

1,065.76

5.84

1,071.60

5,464

Gates

11.224

0.63

2.37

3.00

267

Graham

8.085

41.61

0.43

42.04

5,200

Granville

53.674

4.70

2.49

7.19

134

Greene

20.026

3.07

6.07

9.14

456

Guilford

443.519

52.15

8.06

60.21

136

Halifax

56.023

31.75

1.63

33.38

596

Harnett

103.692

7.70

6.33

14.03

135

Haywood

56.482

43.65

1.80

45.45

805

Henderson

97.217

10.21

3.41

13.62

140

Hertford

23.574

1.96

6.57

8.53

362

Hoke

41.016

1.45

3.63

5.08

124

Hyde

5.413

0.28

0.74

1.02

188

Iredell

140.924

10.84

8.16

19.00

135

Jackson

35.368

2.91

1.57

4.48

127

Johnston

146.437

13.21

10.02

23.23

159

Jones

10.311

0.88

4.30

5.18

502

Lee

55.704

12.84

1.50

14.34

257

Lenoir

57.961

2.85

10.68

13.53

233

Lincoln

69.851

7.79

3.60

11.39

163

McDowell

43.201

3.65

4.92

8.57

198

Macon

32.148

321.52

1.84

323.36

10,058

Madison

20.256

1.75

1.51

3.26

161

Martin

24.643

79.02

81.29

160.31

6,505

Mecklenburg

796.372

2,658.76

5.42

2,664.18

3,345

Mitchell

15.784

3.32

1.14

4.46

283

Montgomery

27.322

5.61

2.22

7.83

287

Moore

81.685

13.06

9.49

22.55

276

Nash

91.378

19.06

3.59

22.65

248

New Hanover

179.553

27.91

11.80

39.71

221

Northampton

21.483

1.95

4.83

6.78

316

Onslow

152.440

0.63

17.95

18.58

122

Orange

118.386

12.77

2.32

15.09

127

Pamlico

12.735

0.00

3.29

258

Pasquotank

38.270

0.58

6.58

7.16

187

Pender

46.429

2.96

6.35

9.31

201

Perquimans

12.080

0.65

3.81

4.46

369

Person

37.217

1,054.33

1.95

1,056.28

28,382

Pitt

142.570

12.68

12.94

25.62

180

Polk

19.134

1.21

1.24

2.45

128

Randolph

138.367

11.52

8.39

19.91

144

Richmond

46.781

9.07

3.86

12.93

276

Robeson

127.586

17.54

15.44

32.98

258

Rockingham

92.614

278.57

3.38

281.95

3,044

Rowan

135.099

355.62

5.42

361.04

2,672

Rutherford

63.771

10.82

2.63

13.45

211

Sampson

63.063

17.56

24.49

42.05

667

Scotland

37.180

1.37

5.12

6.49

175

Stanly

58.964

9.40

5.08

14.48

246

Stokes

45.858

1,233.52

2.26

1,235.78

26,948

Surry

72.601

19.29

4.63

23.92

329

Swain

13.167

16.43

0.77

17.20

1,306

Transylvania

29.626

521.27

1.95

523.22

17,661

Tyrrell

4.157

0.01

0.65

0.66

159

Union

162.929

55.50

11.25

66.75

410

Vance

43.771

8.05

2.16

10.21

233

Wake

748.815

117.26

16.19

133.45

178

Warren

19.729

1.88

1.36

3.24

164

Washington

13.282

0.85

4.95

5.80

437

Watauga

42.472

4.22

3.18

7.40

174

Wayne

114.448

34.62

10.46

45.08

394

Wilkes

67.390

13.01

6.50

19.51

290

Wilson

76.281

12.46

4.47

16.93

222

Yadkin

37.668

1.85

3.94

5.79

154

Yancey

18.201

1.00

1.20

2.20

121

Total:

8683.242

10,603.28

700.09

11,303.37

1,302

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Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 10-Jun-2009 11:06:17 EDT

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