Approximately 8.0 percent of the water used in Lee County comes from underground sources. It is estimated that the use of ground water in the county currently approaches 2.8 billion gallons per year. For comparison, this amount would provide each resident with 172 gallons of water a day during a year. Actually, few if any households use this much water, and this greater per capita use reflects the county's commercial, agribusiness, and municipal needs.
The users of ground water in the county draw their supplies from several different geologic sources. Several factors must be considered in determining the availability of ground water and the adequacy of a supply source:
distribution - having water where it is needed,
accessibility - affects the cost for drilling wells and pumping water,
yield - relates to the magnitude of the supply that can be SUStained,
quality - determines for what purposes the water can be used.
In terms of these factors, there are few locations in Lee County where the availability of ground water is not limited to some degree. The most common limitation is poor water quality, that is, highly mineralized ground water. Secondary limitations are generally related to poor distribution, small yields from some sources, and poor accessibility due to the great depths to adequate sources.
