Groundwater-withdrawal and well-construction data in the Upper Colorado River Basin from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming state databases, 1980–2022

The U.S. Geological Survey developed a coupled groundwater and surface-water flow (GSFLOW) model to represent the aquifers of the Colorado Plateau and Upper Colorado River Basin. The study area covers approximately 142,000 square miles and includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. To support this modeling effort, groundwater well withdrawal volume data were needed from January 01, 1980 to September 30, 2022. These data were retrieved from online state databases. In addition to withdrawal-volume data, well-construction data including depths and/or perforated casing intervals were recorded when available from the databases and/or scanned driller’s logs. Arizona groundwater-withdrawal volume and well-construction data were downloaded from the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Colorado groundwater-withdrawal volume and well-construction data were accessed via the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Decision Support Systems. New Mexico groundwater-withdrawal volume and well-construction data were downloaded from the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer’s New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System (NMWRRS). Utah groundwater-withdrawal volume and well-construction data were accessed via the Utah Division of Water Rights Water Use Data Portal and Utah's State Geographic Information Database (SGID). Wyoming groundwater-withdrawal volume and well-construction data were retrieved from the Wyoming Water Development Office Public Water System Surveys and Wyoming State’s Engineer Office. Because of the different state databases, each state has slightly different information (see Supplemental Information).