Preliminary estimate of water used in southeast river basins, 1960

The estimated withdrawal use of water in the Southeast River Basins during 1960 was about 3,900 mgd exclusive of water used to develop waterpower and exclusive of water used by the Savannah River Plant of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. This estimated use amounts to 770 gallons per capita per day.

Withdrawal use of water requires that the water be removed from the ground or diverted from a stream or lake. In this report the use is divided into four types: public supplies, rural, irrigation, and self-supplied industrial. An estimate of water used for waterpower is not included in this report. Consumptive use is the quantity of water discharged to the atmosphere or incorporated in the products of the process in which it was used. Only about 290 million of the 3,900 mgd withdrawn was consumed.

Of the water withdrawn in 1960, 3,200 mgd was taken from surface sources and 710 mgd from underground sources. Withdrawal of water has increased 31 percent in South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia since 1955. The use of saline water was almost three times as great in 1960 as in 1955.