Deliverables

• Updated USGS Aggregated Water-Use Data System (AWUDS) database and an associated public Data Release that includes refined and more representative water-use estimates at the HUC-8 watershed level. Updated Site-Specific Public Water Use Database System (SWUDS) for site specific water-use data from points of diversion or withdrawals within the study area for 2000 - 2015, with a focus on industrial, public supply, thermoelectric power generation, crop irrigation and golf course irrigation water-use categories.
• A new surface-water model (SWAT) of the Yadkin/Pee Dee/Waccamaw River and Cape Fear River basins with new salinity-intrusion scenarios of the Yadkin/Pee Dee/Waccamaw River basin.
• Ecological response models based on various stakeholder-driven projected water-use and climate change scenarios will be served through the National Water Census (NWC) Data Portal.
• Refined groundwater flow (MODFLOW) and new variable-density (SEAWAT) models.
• A single decision support system (DSS) will be developed for users to view surface-water, aquifer, and ecological response to various water-demand, land-use, and climate-change scenarios.
• A series of USGS data releases will be published on the USGS ScienceBase to document the refined HUC-8 water-use estimates for the study area. Two separate USGS series reports will be published to document the groundwater-flow/SEAWAT models and surface-water/salinity modeling. A journal article(s) will be published to document the ecological response models.

Publications

Spatial Patterns of Development Drive Water Use

By Sanchez, G.M., Smith, J.W., Terando, A., Sun, G., and Meentemeyer, R.K.

Water Resources Research Article

Water availability is becoming more uncertain as human populations grow, cities expand into rural regions and the climate changes. In this study, we examine the functional relationship between water use and the spatial patterns of developed land across the rapidly growing region of the southeastern United States. We quantified the spatial pattern of developed land within census tract boundaries, including multiple metrics of density and configuration...