Table 3.37. Habitat type and amount converted 

 to urban and industrial use between 

 1952 and 1974 in Calcasieu Basin. 



*Does not agree with total socioeconomic land gain because 

 3 ha were lost to erosion in the same period. 



Table 3.38. Typical daily per capita inputs and outputs 

 of a U.S. city with one million residents 

 (Wolman 1965). 



Per capita inputs 



(kg/yr) 



Per capita outputs 



(kg/yr) 



*Not including surface runoff, which is generally smaller but 

 highly significant in terms of nutrient load. 



Domestic and industrial water use : Clean water is 

 required by the industrial and domestic sectors of the 

 economy. Over 90% of the municipal use is from 

 ground water sources (table 3.40). Industrial use of 

 water is much greater than municipal use. In south- 

 westem Louisiana, 94% of the industrial use is for 

 petroleum refining and for petrochemical plants 

 (Louisiana Department Public Works 1970). The 

 water is used primarily for cooling and only about 7% 

 is consumed; the rest is returned to waterways. 

 Montlily distribution of water use is fairly uniform, 

 with a slight peak in August (appendix 6.2). Thermal 

 effects of water used for cooling are particularly sig- 

 nificant in regions such as the Chenier Plain, where 

 summer temperatures are often naturally close to the 

 thermal death temperature of aquatic organisms (Wes- 

 ton, Inc. 1974). However, no evaluation of the effects 

 of thermal pollution on aquatic systems has been made 

 in the Chenier Plain region. 



The Louisiana Department PubUc Works (1970) 

 estimates water usage for petroleum refining and re- 

 lated activities at 296 m^ (10,453 ft^) per employee 

 per day; and for chemicals and allied products, at 3 1 1 

 m'' (10.983 ft^) per employee day. Municipal usage 

 rates per individual in southwestern Louisiana are 

 much lower, about 0.382 m^ (13.5 ft^) per day (Lou- 

 isiana Department Public Works 1970). This is weU 

 below the national average of about 0.580 m^ (20.5 

 ft^)/day (Louisiana Department PubUc Works 1970). 

 Many rural families in the region develop their own 

 water supply and their use rates are even lower than 

 the regional average. The estimated industrial and 

 municipal water use in the Chenier Plain, based on 

 these usage rates and the local populations is heaviest 

 in the Sabine Basin where extensive refining and manu- 

 facturing is located (table 3.41). Water-use estimates 

 made by the Texas Water Development Board (1977) 

 for the Texas portion of the Sabine Basin were con- 

 siderably higher (table 3.42) than estimates in table 

 3.41. However, estimates by basin serve as indicators 

 of actual water use. The ecological effects of this 

 water use are reported in part 3.5.3. 



Table 3.39. Industrial and urban phosphorus dis- 

 charges (kg/yr) in the Chenier Plain 

 basins (appendix 6.4). 



3.2.7 TRANSPORTATION 



Navigation channels provide the least expensive 

 long-haul transportation in the Chenier Plain. High- 

 ways and railroads provide access to inland areas. Pipe- 

 lines are the major transportation method route for 

 moving hydrocarbons; an estimated 7,549 km (2,972 

 mi) of pipeUnes crisscross the Chenier Plain (figure 3- 

 13a and b). Data on the amount of crude and manu- 

 factured hydrocarbons transported through pipelines 

 are not available. Although there is relatively low em- 

 ployment in the transportation sector, it is a major 

 force in the economy and has many impacts on the 

 environment. 



Waterborne Transport. Waterborne commerce in 

 the Chenier Plain accounted for 183 million short tons 

 of various products in 1976 (table 3.43). Over 95% of 



55 



