Select Data

Click on the "Select Data" tab to select the geographic and attribute data that will appear on the map and in the "View Data" section.

Select Scale

Click "County" or "Water Planning Region" to summarize the data by counties or Water Planning Regions.

Select Category and Variable

Use the Category drop-down box to select the type of data you would like to view. A list of variables within that category will appear in the Variables drop-down box. Make a selection in the Variables drop-down box to change the type of data that appears on the map.

Select Year

Use the Year drop-down box to select the year of data that you would like to view. Data is available for years 1985 to 2015. Long-term trend data will be available in the "View Data" section regardless of year chosen.

Select County or Water Planning Region

Optionally, use the County or Water Planning Region drop-down box to select a county or Water Planning Region of interest. The selection will be highlighted on the map and a map pop-up will appear with specific data. The "View Data" section will summarize data from the selected area. If no option is selected, the "View Data" section will summarize data from the entire state.

Map Pop-ups

Click on a county or Water Planning Region to view a pop-up window with summary data that corresponds to the currently selected Category. Click the "View Data" tab to then see summary figures for this area. Click outside the state of Georgia to reset the map selection.

View Data

Click the "View Data" tab to view figures corresponding to the Year and Category that is selected in the "Select Data" tab. Click variables in the legend to toggle their visibility in the figure. Click or hover over figure elements to see additional data. For bar graphs: Click and drag on the figure to zoom in, and double-click to reset.

If no option is selected for County or Water Planning Region, data will be summarized at the state scale.

If a county is selected in the "Select Data" tab, figures will only include data from that county. Click the "Generate County Report" button to view a detailed summary of population, water withdrawals, and water use data for that county.

If a Water Planning Region is selected in the "Select Data" tab, figures will only include data from that Water Planning Region.

About the Data

Click the "About the Data" tab to view detailed descriptions of water use categories.

Explanation of Data

Click the "Explanation" button at the top right of the map to view the legend for the data that is currently on the map.

Color Scheme

This color scheme is used for Water Use categories throughout the application:

Project Documentation

Water Planning Region

In 2008, the Georgia General Assembly established 11 Water Planning Regions as part of the State-wide Comprehensive Water Management Plan. Each region has a Water Planning Council that consists of volunteer members who work on Regional Water Plans. There is a 5-year plan review and revision process where the Council re-evaluate and where appropriate update the Regional Water Plan. These plans describe water resources conditions, project future demands, identify resource management issues, and recommend appropriate water management practices to be employed in the region.

Water Use Categories

Please visit the Water-Use Terminology web page for complete definitions.

Water withdrawn by public and private water suppliers that furnish water to at least 25 people or have a minimum of 15 connections. Public suppliers provide water for a variety of uses, such as domestic, commercial, industrial, thermoelectric-power, and public water use.

Amount of water delivered from a public supplier to users for domestic, commercial, industrial, thermoelectric-power, or public-use purposes. These estimates were established by Public Supplier surveys administered between 1980 and 2010 by GAEPD and compiled by USGS.

Water withdrawn from a groundwater or surface-water source by a user rather than being obtained from a public supply.

Water used for indoor household purposes such as drinking, food preparation, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and outdoor purposes such as watering lawns and gardens. Domestic water use includes potable and non-potable water provided to households by a public water supplier (domestic deliveries) and self-supplied water.

Water for motels, hotels, restaurants, office buildings, other commercial facilities, military and nonmilitary institutions. Water may be obtained from a public-supply system or may be self-supplied.

Water used in the process of generating electricity with steam-driven turbine generators. The combined public-supply deliveries to thermoelectric-power plants and self-supplied thermoelectric-power withdrawals.

Water used for fabrication, processing, washing, and cooling. Includes industries such as chemical and allied products, food, mining, paper and allied products, petroleum refining, and steel.

Water used for the extraction of naturally occurring minerals including solids (such as coal, sand, gravel, and other ores), liquids (such as crude petroleum), and gases (such as natural gas). Also includes uses associated with quarrying, milling and other preparations customarily done at the mine site, injection of water for secondary oil recovery or for unconventional oil and gas recovery (such as hydraulic fracturing), and other operations associated with mining activity. Does not include water associated with dewatering of the aquifer that is not put to beneficial use. Also does not include water used in processing, such as smelting, refining petroleum, or slurry pipeline operations. These processing uses are included in industrial water use.

Water used for livestock watering, feedlots, dairy operations, and other on-farm needs. Types of livestock include dairy cows and heifers, beef cattle and calves, sheep and lambs, goats, hogs and pigs, horses and poultry.

Water use associated with the farming of finfish, shellfish, and other organisms that live in water, and offstream water use associated with fish hatcheries.

Water that is applied by an irrigation system to assist crop and pasture growth, or to maintain vegetation on recreational lands such as parks and golf courses. Irrigation includes water that is applied for pre-irrigation, frost protection, chemical application, weed control, field preparation, harvesting, dust suppression, leaching of salts from the root zone. Irrigation water use estimates also include conveyance losses.

Water that reaches a groundwater or surface-water source after release from the point of use and thus becomes available for further use. This includes wastewater-treatment return flow which is water returned to the hydrologic system by wastewater-treatment facilities.

USGS Data Disclaimer

Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.

Project Team

• Jaime A. Painter
• Andrea S. Medenblik

Project Partner

• Georgia Environmental Protection Division
• 

Citations

Web Application: Medenblik, A.S., 2022, Georgia Water Use Mapper, U.S. Geological Survey web page, https://apps.usgs.gov/ga-water-use/.

Georgia Water Use Report (2015): Painter, J.A., 2019, Estimated use of water in Georgia for 2015 and water-use trends, 1985–2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2019–1086, 216 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191086.

Georgia Water Use Data (2015): Painter, J.A., 2019, 2015 Georgia water-use information by county and water-use trends by water-planning region: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9T6P5SM.