Chapter 7. — Water 



This chapter presents information on: (I) Recent 

 trends in water use, both for consumptive and non- 

 consumptive uses, with projections to 2030; (2) the 

 current and prospective water supply situation; (3) 

 comparisons of projected consumptive water de- 

 mands with supplies, and identification of the loca- 

 tion and significance of likely quantity imbalances; 

 (4) identification of major water quality problems; 

 and (5) opportunities for dealing with quantity and 

 quality problems through forest and range land 

 management. 



Responsibility for national water assessments was 

 assigned to the U.S. Water Resources Council by 

 the Water Resources Planning Act of 1965. Much 

 of the information in this section has been con- 

 densed from the Council's recently completed study 

 "The 1975 Assessment of Water and Related Land 

 Resources."' For the assessment of water quality, 

 the primary source was "The National Water Quality 

 Inventory Report for 1976. "^ In addition, the Forest 

 Service has made a specific attempt to assess water 

 quality from forest and range land. 



A number of other studies contain information 

 on the Nation's water resources which supplement 

 the above work, including: 



National Water Commission. Water policies 

 for the future, final report to the President 

 and to Congress. U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 

 Washington, D.C. 579 p. 1973. 



U.S. Water Resources Council. Water re- 

 gions and subregions for the national assess- 

 ment of water and related land resources. 

 Water Resources Council, Washington, D.C. 

 75 p. 1970. 



United States Environmental Protection 

 Agency. National water quality inventory, 

 1976 Report to Congress. U.S. Gov. Printing 

 Office, Washington, D.C. 1976. 



Anderson, H. W., M. D. Hoover, and K. G. 

 Reinhart. Forest and water: Effects of forest 

 management on floods, sedimentation, and 

 water supply. U.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Forest Service, General Tech. Rep. 

 PSW-18. Pacific Southwest For. and Range 

 Exp. Stn., Berkeley, Calif. 1976. 



'U.S. Water Resources Council. The 1975 assessment of water 

 and related land resources. (In process.) 



21). S. Environmental Protection Agency. National water quality 

 inventory, 1976 Report to Congress. U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 

 Washington, D.C. 1977. 



Overall, the United States has an abundant supply 

 of water. In 1975, the Nation consumptively used 

 about 106.6 billion gallons a day, while average 

 supplies via natural runoff averaged about 1,400 

 billion gallons a day. Unfortunately, these averages 

 do not adequately portray the situation. While an 

 abundance of water occurs in many sections of the 

 country, there are some sections where the need 

 greatly exceeds the supply, the quality of available 

 water is very poor, or both. 



In addition, water is subject to multiple uses in 

 the sense that the water in a stream or lake may be 

 used for recreation, support for aquatic life, for 

 residential and commercial purposes, and for irri- 

 gation. The same water may be used several times 

 for different purposes as it flows from the head- 

 waters of a major river to the ocean. To a sub- 

 stantial degree, the reuse of water depends on the 

 ability to maintain high-quality water in streams 

 and lakes. 



Basically, then, water problems exist because water 

 generally is not a highly transportable commodity. 

 The cost of transporting water outside natural water- 

 sheds is usually prohibitive for all but the highest 

 value uses. As a result, an overall nationwide analysis 

 of water supplies and demands can be misleading. 

 Most water problems can be defined only on a 

 regional or even local basis. In recognition of this 

 fact, projections of water demands and supplies 

 are presented for regions that represent geographic 

 areas with common water management situations. 

 The geographic delineation used in this study is 

 shown in figure 7.1. The water resource regions are 

 listed on the map margin as New England, Middle 

 Atlantic,. . . ., Caribbean, and are delineated by 

 solid lines and numbered (01), (02), etc. The second 

 order delineations are subdivisions of the first, and 

 are called subregions. These subregions on figure 

 7.1, delineated by dotted lines, are groups of counties 

 that closely approximate hydrologic areas which 

 could be (1) a river system or systems, (2) a reach 

 of a river or its tributaries, (3) a closed basin, 

 or (4) a group of rivers forming a coastal drainage 

 area. 



The Demand for Water 



Estimates of water withdrawal and consumptive 

 uses are presented here by water resource region. 

 Then, to facilitate analysis of problems at a more 

 meaningful geographic level, water supply and con- 

 sumptive uses (shown as depletion rates) are pre- 

 sented at the subregion level. These subregions are 

 then aggregated into the Resources Planning Act 

 Regions used in this document to facilitate the de- 

 velopment of the Forest Service program. 



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