Water Use | USGS Ozark Plateaus Groundwater Availability Study

Do you depend on groundwater? Groundwater is withdrawn from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system for multiple uses including public supply, domestic use, industrial purposes, mining, livestock watering, aquaculture, and irrigation of crops.

A total of 380 million gallons per day of groundwater was pumped from Ozark system aquifers in 2010 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2015), excluding 10 counties along the eastern border that likely withdraw water from the shallow alluvial aquifers (Hays and others, 2016). Of the total groundwater pumped, approximately 212 million gallons per day (or 56 percent) was used for public supply and domestic self-supply.

Water-use categories on this map are grouped based on modeling efforts from Knierim and others (2016, 2017).

Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5137
Hydrogeology and hydrologic conditions of the Ozark Plateaus Aquifer System by Hays, P.D., Knierim, K.J., Breaker, B.K., Westerman, D.A., and Clark, B.R., 2016
Data Release
Groundwater withdrawal rates from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system, 1900 to 2010 by Knierim, K.J., Nottmeier, A.M., Worland, Scott, Westerman, D.A., and Clark, B.R., 2016
Hydrogeology Journal Article
Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system from 1900 to 2010 by Knierim, K.J., Nottmeier, A.M., Worland, S., Westerman, D.A., and Clark, B.R., 2017
National Water Information System
USGS Water Use in the United States (Data Portal) U.S. Geological Survey, 2015