New York Water-Use Program and Data, 2000
by Deborah S. Lumia and Kristin S. Linsey
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 2005-1352
ABSTRACT
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been publishing estimates of water use every five years since
1950 in the Estimated use of water in the United States circular series. In 1978, the Congress expanded
the water-use activities of the USGS by establishing the National Water-Use Information Program
(NWUIP). The water-use program in New York is part of the NWUIP and is based on a cooperative
agreement between the USGS and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC). Together, the NYSDEC and USGS collect, compile, and store water-use data to provide
a data base that is useful for water-resources management. The New York State Department of Health
(NYSDOH) collects a wide variety of data elements relating to public-water supplies such as the name
and location of the suppliers and the amount of water withdrawn. This valuable information is provided
to the water-use program.
The information summarized in this fact sheet has been published in U.S. Geological Survey Circular
1268, Estimated use of water in the United States in 2000 which can be accessed at http://water.usgs.
gov/watuse. The 2000 data (by county) as well as previous years data can also be found at that site.
Water withdrawal refers to the
removal of water from the ground or its diversion from a
surface-water source for use. Withdrawals of fresh
and saline surface water and fresh ground water
during 2000 were included in this study. The
categories considered in this data compilation are
public-water supply; deliveries to domestic from
public-water suppliers and domestic self-supplied;
industrial; thermoelectric-power generation; and
irrigation. Saline withdrawals were included
for the categories of industrial, mining, and
thermoelectric-power generation. Saline water is a
significant percentage of total withdrawals for the
category of thermoelectric-power generation.
The categories of withdrawal for which data
were compiled for the 2000 calendar year do not
include some of the categories that were addressed
in 1995 and published in USGS Circular 1200,
Estimated use of water in the United States in
1995. For the 2000 compilation, emphasis was
placed on ensuring the quality of data that were
collected, rather than attempting to address all
categories and data elements on a national scale.
Categories that were included in 1995 but not
in 2000 are commercial; livestock; mining; the
non-withdrawal categories of hydroelectric-power
generation, wastewater treatment and public-water
supply deliveries to commercial and industrial
users. Any comparison made between 1995 and
2000 data need to be made with these category
differences in mind. In 1995, the categories of
commercial, livestock, and mining were about 280
Mgal/d (million gallons per day) of freshwater and
2.7 percent of total freshwater withdrawals. In
addition, the report, New York water-use program
and data, 1995, U. S. Geological Survey Fact
Sheet 014-02, concentrated on freshwater and did
not include saline-surface water withdrawals in the
figures. Any comparison between the 1995 and
2000 figures need to be made with this in mind.
In 2000, about 12,100 Mgal/d (million gallons
per day) of fresh surface and ground water and
saline surface water were withdrawn from New
York's rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, bays, and
aquifers for the categories addressed. Freshwater
withdrawals comprised about 7,080 Mgal/d of
this total. With a total population of 18,980,000
people in New York State, the total freshwater
withdrawals represent an average of more than 370
gal/d (gallons per day) per capita. The amounts of
fresh surface water, ground water, saline surface
water, and total amounts of water withdrawn by
categories of water use in New York during 2000
are shown.
Many of New York's large population centers
have developed along major rivers and lakes;
as a result, more than 87 percent of
the freshwater withdrawals in 2000 were from
surface-water bodies (6,190 Mgal/d). More than
65 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals
were for thermoelectric-power generation, and
about 32 percent were by public-water suppliers.
Of the 890 Mgal/d of ground water withdrawn
in 2000 statewide, 65 percent was withdrawn by
public-water suppliers, and about 16 percent each
by industrial and domestic users.
More freshwater is withdrawn by thermoelectric
plants than for any other water-use category. Of
the freshwater withdrawals within New York,
about 57 percent were made by fossil-fuel and
nuclear powerplants; about 36 percent were for
public-water supply; about 4.2 percent was by
industrial users, 2.0 percent by domestic users,
and about 0.5 percent was for irrigation.
Total withdrawals, total surface-water and
fresh ground-water withdrawals, in New York are
plotted, by county. The categories of
public-water supply and thermoelectric power
account for the withdrawals that exceed 100
Mgal/d per county. The counties that have public-water
supply withdrawals that exceed 100 Mgal/d
are: Delaware (453 Mgal/d), Ulster, Nassau,
Erie, Sullivan, Westchester, Suffolk, Putnam, and
Schoharie (115 Mgal/d). These large withdrawals
are from surface water except in Nassau and
Suffolk Counties on Long Island, where
groundwater is the sole source of freshwater.
Delaware, Putnam, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster,
and Westchester Counties, in the southeastern
part of the State, provide surface water to
the aqueducts that supply drinking water to New
York City. In 2000, the average amount of water
delivered to New York City from these counties
averaged 1,260 Mgal/d. Erie County, in western
New York, had withdrawals totaling 176 Mgal/d of
fresh surface water for public-water supply.
More freshwater and more total water is
withdrawn for the generation of thermoelectric
power than for any other water-use category. All
of the withdrawals are of surface water. Seven
counties have total thermoelectric withdrawals
that exceed 500 Mgal/d: Queens (1,690 Mgal/d),
Westchester, Oswego, Suffolk, Erie, Orange, and
Rockland (560 Mgal/d). The counties of Oswego,
Erie, and Orange withdrew only fresh surface
water for thermoelectric plants. Their sources
of water were Lake Ontario (Oswego County),
Niagara River (Erie County), and the Hudson
River (Orange County). Queens, Westchester,
Suffolk, and Rockland withdraw only saline
surface water for the production of thermoelectric
power. The sources of saline surface water
for the thermoelectric plants in the counties of
Queens, Westchester, Suffolk, and Rockland are
the estuaries of the Hudson River and East River
and bays of the Atlantic Ocean (Long Island
Sound and the eastern shore of Jamaica Bay).
New York ranked eighth in the United States in 2000
in total withdrawals (fresh and saline water); the States
that exceeded New York in total withdrawals are those
that have large populations (such as California and Texas)
and (or) use large quantities of water for irrigation (such
as Florida and Idaho). Of the categories considered for
the 2000 compilation, New York did not have nationally
significant withdrawals for either irrigation or industrial
water use.
New York ranked third after California and Texas
in withdrawals of freshwater for public supply, in the
withdrawal of fresh surface water for public-water supply,
in total population, and in number of people served by
public-water supplies. New York ranked sixth in total
withdrawals for the generation of thermoelectric power and
total surface-water withdrawals. Finally, New York ranked
fourth in withdrawals of ground water for public supply.
Citation: Lumia, D.S., and Linsey, K.S., 2005, New York Water-Use
Program and Data, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1352, 8 p., online only.
[Full Report, Acrobat PDF
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