Marella, R.L., Dixon, J.F, and Berry, D.R., 2016, GIS data and tables pertaining to the Agricultural Irrigated Land-use Inventory for the Counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District, 2015 - Scientific data associated with the USGS Open-File Report 2016-1111: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7NK3C4V.
The purpose of the data release is to present a detailed digital map and summary of field-verified irrigated acreage within all or part of 13 of the 15 counties located within the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) boundary for the 2015 calendar year. These 13 counties include Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, and Union. Four of the 13 counties inventoried (Alachua, Bradford, Jefferson, and Levy) are only partially within the SRWMD boundary. Results are available for each of these 13 counties, but the data summarized and presented in the data release represent the area within the SRWMD only. The irrigated acreage was mapped, digitized, and field verified for the crops grown during the 2015 spring, summer, fall, and winter growing seasons in these 13 counties. Attribute data were collected for each irrigated field including crop type, irrigation system type, and primary water source. The majority of irrigated acreage in these 13 counties were field crops such as corn, peanuts, and hay, and these were field verified between July and October. All other crops, such as orchards (citrus, blueberries, and grapes), ornamentals (container nurseries and tree farms), and sod, were also field verified during this same time, while vegetables were field verified in May and June and then again in October and November. The maps and acreage totals presented provide estimates of irrigated acreage by irrigation systems, and water source. The data compiled in this study will provide state water officials necessary information for water supply planning and will be used by the USGS National Water-Use Information Program to develop more accurate acreage estimates and better distribute irrigated acreage estimates across hydrologic basins.
