This tool provides information on water resources and how they might be affected by future land use or climate change in your area. Its questions help you think about and identify the ways that water is used and managed in your region and community. The tool provides a summary of your answers and guides to information that could help in a more detailed study of your area's water resources.
This tool covers both the amount of water available in your area and its quality -- and how these could be affected in the future by land use and climate change. If you would like to learn about these water resources in general, without (or before) answering questions about water in your area, please go to background on water and water quality.
This Water Resources Guidance Tool has seven questions about water supply and six about water quality. A first pass through these questions -- where you learn about some of the issues by visiting a few of the web links that we provide and answer each question in the tool takes about 20 to 30 minutes.
Water has many important uses. Surface water – in a stream, river, lake or estuary – provides habitat for fish, vegetation, and other aquatic species. People can use this water body for recreation or navigation, or pump the water to provide supply for their homes, farms, businesses, or industry. Water supplies also can be pumped from groundwater sources. To meet these needs, there must be an adequate amount or availability of water, and the water must be clean enough for the desired use. First we consider water availability and the types of water use that are important in your area.
The major users of water include:
Often information about water uses is not available. Rather, the major collector of information on water use in the United States – the US Geological Survey, or USGS – finds it is easier to collect information on who supplies the water (instead of how it is used), especially distinguishing among public water supply companies, individuals that supply their own water, and major industries, power plants or farms that pump their own water supplies. The USGS provides data for the United States for the following types of water supply:
Public water supply refers to water withdrawn by public and private water suppliers and delivered to users. These users can include both households and commercial facilities. Domestic water supply includes water from individual wells or cisterns used for household purposes. Industrial water use includes water for processing and production in private industrial facilities. Irrigation water use includes all water artificially applied to farm, orchard, pasture, and horticultural crops. Thermoelectric power generation includes water used in generating electric power.
Public water supply refers to water withdrawn by public and private water suppliers and delivered to users. These users can include both households and commercial facilities.
Domestic water supply includes water from individual wells or cisterns used for household purposes.
Industrial water use includes water for processing and production in private industrial facilities.
Irrigation water use includes all water artificially applied to farm, orchard, pasture, and horticultural crops.
Thermoelectric power generation includes water used in generating electric power.
USGS data also includes selected information on water used for mining, aquaculture and livestock.
For more information about how USGS defines these water uses and how it collects data across the United States for them, please click here.
