Water withdrawals in the Roanoke-Chowan Subregion of North Carolina and Virginia, 1983

The Chowan-Roanoke Subregion of North Carolina and Virginia comprises an area of about 18,300 sq mi, of which 7,600 sq mi are in North Carolina and 10,700 sq mi are in Virginia. Precipitation in the region is relatively high, and therefore water supplies appear to be plentiful. However, projected increases in water withdrawals, proposed interbasin diversions, and limited storage could reduce the amount of water available to meet the water use demand in the region. This report summarizes water withdrawals for the relatively dry year 1983 by type of use and county for the Subregion. Total surface and groundwater withdrawals in the Subregion were about 3,660 million gal/day; 95% was withdrawn in North Carolina where large amounts of water were withdrawn at four thermoelectric powerplants. Self-supplied industries accounted for the second largest withdrawal of water (206 million gal/day), which was 55% of the water withdrawals excluding power generation. Also, industries accounted for about 57% of the total groundwater withdrawals in the Subregion.