Estimated Water Withdrawals in Oklahoma, 2010 Completed

Introduction

This web page presents 2010 freshwater withdrawal estimates for Oklahoma by source and category. Withdrawal source is either ground water or surface water. Withdrawal categories include: irrigation, water supply, livestock and aquaculture, thermoelectric-power generation, domestic and commercial, and industrial and mining. Withdrawal data are aggregated and tabulated by county, principal river basin, and major aquifer. Total withdrawals and three major categories of irrigation, water supply, and livestock, also are presented in ranked order for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the National Water-Use Information Program in 1977 to collect uniform, current, and reliable information on water use. The USGS has compiled national estimates every 5 years since 1950. The most recent national water use compilation is for 2010. The data presented here are the result of the 2010 compilation effort for Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Water Science Center of the USGS and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board participate in a cooperative program to collect and publish water-use information for Oklahoma. Data contained in this web page were made available through the cooperative program.

Terminology

Withdrawal is the amount of water withdrawn or diverted from a ground- or surface-water source. Use is the amount of water that is brought into a facility (or to an irrigation area) for use, and is equal to the withdrawal plus delivery from water suppliers minus any loss that occurred prior to use. Fresh water is defined as water containing less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids.

Approach

Water-use data were estimated using 2010 Oklahoma Water Resources Board data as the primary data source. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board collects water-use data through an annual survey of permitted water users.

Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals

During 2010 in Oklahoma:

• Total quantity of freshwater withdrawals for all purposes was estimated to be 1,770 million gallons per day.
• Total surface-water withdrawals were estimated to be 1140 million gallons per day or 64 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.
• Total ground-water withdrawals were about 635 million gallons per day or 36 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.

For the top four freshwater withdrawal categories:

• Water-supply withdrawals accounted for 37 percent of total withdrawals.
• Irrigation withdrawals accounted for 32 percent of total withdrawals and for 80 percent of ground-water withdrawals
• Thermoelectric-power generation accounted for 11 percent of total withdrawals.
• Livestock and aquaculture withdrawals accounted for 6 percent of the total withdrawals.

For the top three counties the largest amount of fresh water withdrawn for:

• Water-supply purposes was in Oklahoma County, followed by Mayes  and Rogers Counties.
• Irrigation purposes was in Texas County, followed by Jackson and Cimarron Counties.
• Livestock purposes was in Texas, Grady, and Beaver Counties.

Tables

Table 1: Total withdrawals for Oklahoma, 2010.

Table 2: Freshwater for each county in Oklahoma, 2010.