Water use patterns Dr. Merryl Alber University of Georgia

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

malber@uga.edu https://marsci.uga.edu/directory/people/merryl-alber https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-4449 Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

gcelter@uga.edu https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/ Dr. Merryl Alber University of Georgia

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

malber@uga.edu https://marsci.uga.edu/directory/people/merryl-alber https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-4449 Principal investigator 1999-01-01 2001-12-31 Ms Carrie Beth Smith University of Georgia

Graduate research assistant 1999-01-01 2001-12-31 2026

M. Alber (UGA) and C. Smith (M.S. student, UGA) examined water use patterns in the hydrologic units that comprise the watersheds of the 5 major coastal rivers in Georgia (Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Satilla, St. Marys). The data for this analysis were obtained from the Georgia Water Use Program, which regularly surveys both water sources (groundwater and surface water) and water uses (domestic, commercial, industrial, mining, irrigation, livestock, thermoelectric, and hydroelectric) as part of the USGS National Water Use Synthesis. Total water withdrawal in the study area totaled 5749 million gallons per day (mgd) in 1995, with no large changes in either water withdrawal or water use patterns for the last 3 reporting years (1985, 1990, and 1995). Surface water accounted for 91% of the water withdrawal in the region, and much of this was for thermoelectric use in the watersheds of the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers. However, most of the groundwater that was withdrawn was withdrawn in the Coastal Plain. Only 10% of the water withdrawn was actually consumed, with the remainder returned to the surface water. Irrigation represented the largest consumptive use, and much of this occurred in the Coastal Plain.

Question 1: What are the long-term patterns of environmental forcing to the coastal zone? (more information)

Georgia Water Use Program LTER NSF Altamaha River Georgia Ogeechee River Satilla River Savannah River St. Mary's River GCE groundwater hydrologic units irrigation thermoelectric water use watersheds Overall geographic extent of the research project -84.438334 -81.119291 34.385550 30.892711 1999-01-01 2001-12-31

National Science Foundation grant number OCE-9982133

estuary marsh complex Altamaha River basin - Upper Altamaha River watershed basin, encompassing the drainages of the Oconee, Ohoopee, Ocmulgee and Little Ocmulgee Rivers. -84.438334 -81.506075 34.385550 31.315563 Central Georgia Coast - Central Georgia coastal region from the South Newport River (northern extent) to the Satilla River (southern extent), and from the outer banks of the barrier islands (eastern extent) to approximately 35km inland (western extent) -81.759763 -81.119291 31.771190 30.892711 Alber, M. and Smith, C. 2001. Water use patterns in the watersheds of the Georgia riverine estuaries. Pages 752-755 in: Hatcher, K.J. (editor). Proceedings of the 2001 Georgia Water Resources Conference. Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/files/pubs/Alber_Smith_gwrc.pdf