Estimated Use of Water by Subbasin (HUC8) in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985-2015
Dates
Publication Date
2021-09-15
Start Date
1985-01-01
End Date
2015-12-31
Citation
Ivahnenko, T.I., and Galanter, A.E., 2021, Estimated Use of Water by Subbasin (HUC8) in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985-2015: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7SX6CJ2.
Summary
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11) was passed into law on March 30, 2009. Sub-title F of the law, also known as the SECURE (Science and Engineering to Comprehensively Understand and Responsibly Enhance) Water Act, calls for the establishment of a “national water availability and use assessment program” in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The recommendation for a national assessment of the available water resources was driven by the lack of such an assessment since 1978. In fulfillment of the Act, the USGS developed the National Water Census (NWC), under the auspices of the USGS Water Availability and Use Program, and as part of that activity, among others, collected water withdrawal and wastewater [...]
Summary
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11) was passed into law on March 30, 2009. Sub-title F of the law, also known as the SECURE (Science and Engineering to Comprehensively Understand and Responsibly Enhance) Water Act, calls for the establishment of a “national water availability and use assessment program” in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The recommendation for a national assessment of the available water resources was driven by the lack of such an assessment since 1978. In fulfillment of the Act, the USGS developed the National Water Census (NWC), under the auspices of the USGS Water Availability and Use Program, and as part of that activity, among others, collected water withdrawal and wastewater return data, including instream use at hydroelectric powerplants (water use) for purposes of expanding upon national datasets and providing these data to assist in hydrologic studies of the Upper Rio Grande Basin. The NWC uses regional geographic studies, of which the Upper Rio Grande Basin was one of a second set of three focus area studies, and topical-themed studies that are designed to improve the understanding of resources such as streamflow at non-streamgaged sites, ecological flows, groundwater/surface-water interactions, and effects of snow sublimation on timing and quantity of runoff. These datasets present offstream water use estimates for public supply, self-supplied domestic and irrigation in 5 year intervals from 1985 to 2015 and instream and offstream water use for industrial, mining, thermoelectric, livestock, aquaculture and hydroelectric for 2015. All years and categories of water use data are aggregated to the 8-digit (subbasin) hydrologic unit level for the Upper Rio Grande Basin. These digital data accompany Ivahnenko T.I., Flickenger, A.K., Galanter, A.E., Douglas-Mankin, K.R., Pedraza, D.E., and Senay, G.B., 2020, Estimates of public supply, domestic and irrigation water withdrawals, use and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin,1985 to 2015: U.S.Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5036, 35 p.
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Related External Resources
Type: Related Primary Publication
Ivahnenko, T.I., Flickinger, A.K., Galanter, A.E., Douglas-Mankin, K.R., Pedraza, D.E., and Senay, G.B., 2021, Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2021–5036, 31 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215036.
In 2014, the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census. The three main objectives of the USGS National Water Census are to (1) provide a nationally consistent set of indicators that reflect each status and trend relating to the availability of water resources in the United States, (2) provide information and tools that allow users to better understand the flow requirements for ecological purposes, and (3) report on areas of significant competition over water resources and the factors that have led to the competition. The URGB FAS will help meet these objectives through an integrated, comprehensive approach using existing data and studies, established and new technologies, and user-friendly data management and visualization tools. The study will assess water availability in the URGB from the headwaters in southern Colorado to Fort Quitman, Texas. Water availability will be evaluated by assessing surface water and groundwater, and estimating evapotranspiration and water use. Assessment of water-budget components and their interaction will include evaluation of historical and current hydrologic data. The water use dataset compiled as part of the URGB FAS was used in the analysis of water withdrawals, consumption and water use trends in the study basin as well as in hydrologic modeling and groundwater assessment components of the study.
