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Nancy L Barber

Nancy Barber is a hydrologist with the South Atlantic Water Science Center in Norcross, Ga. with more than 30 years experience in water-use information and databases. Her current role is Product Owner for the modernized Water Use Data System which is under development.

 

Nancy began her career at the Georgia Geologic Survey, working on an early voluntary irrigation reporting system and the compilation of Georgia data for the report Estimated use of water in the United States in 1980. During graduate school in 1986, she joined the USGS Texas District as a hydrologist, then took a full-time position in the Mississippi District in 1987 where she worked on a groundwater modeling project and a water-use project on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway area. In 1994 she transferred to the Georgia District, now a part of the South Atlantic Water Science Center to lead the Groundwater Information Unit, before moving back into water-use project work.

Nancy worked on the 5-year national water-use compilations from 1980 to 2015. She was a water-use subject matter expert and database tester for the unsuccessful NWIS-II effort, and later was a member of the Water Use User Group and Groundwater User Group which developed user requirements, testing plans, and documentation for the water-use and groundwater subsystems for the National Water Information System (NWIS). Nancy currently is the Product Owner of the Water Use Data System which will replace the legacy water-use components of NWIS, coordinating stakeholder needs for the new system and communicating them to the software development team.

Professional Experience

  • 1978-1985 - Geologist, Georgia Geologic Survey, Atlanta, Ga.
    1986-1987 - Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey Texas District, Austin, Tex.
    1987-1994 - Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey Mississippi District, Jackson, Miss.
    1994-present - Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey Georgia District, now South Atlantic Water Science Center, Norcross, Ga.

Education and Certifications

  • B.S., Geology, Emory University, 1978
    M.B.A, Management, Georgia State University, 1984
    Graduate coursework in groundwater hydrology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1985-1987

    Registered Professional Geologist (Georgia), 1984-2013

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 20

Continuing progress toward a national assessment of water availability and use

Executive SummaryThe Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111—11) was passed into law on March 30, 2009. Subtitle F, also known as the SECURE Water Act, calls for the establishment of a “national water availability and use assessment program” within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS issued the first report on the program in 2013. Program progress over the period 2013–17
Authors
Eric J. Evenson, Sonya A. Jones, Nancy L. Barber, Paul M. Barlow, David L. Blodgett, Breton W. Bruce, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, William H. Farmer, Jeffrey M. Fischer, William B. Hughes, Jonathan Kennen, Julie E. Kiang, Molly A. Maupin, Howard W. Reeves, Gabriel B. Senay, Jennifer S. Stanton, Chad R. Wagner, Jennifer T. Wilson
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015

Water use in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be about 322 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 9 percent less than in 2010. The 2015 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970, following the same overall trend of decreasing total withdrawals observed from 2005 to 2010. Freshwater withdrawals were 281 Bgal/d, or 87 percent of total withdrawals, and salin
Authors
Cheryl A. Dieter, Molly A. Maupin, Rodney R. Caldwell, Melissa A. Harris, Tamara I. Ivahnenko, John K. Lovelace, Nancy L. Barber, Kristin S. Linsey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Water Science School

User’s Manual for the National Water Information System of the U.S. Geological Survey: Aggregate Water-Use Data System, Version 3.2

The Aggregate Water-Use Data System (AWUDS) is the database management system used to enter, store, and analyze state aggregate water-use data. It is part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System. AWUDS has a graphical user interface that facilitates data entry, revision, review, and approval. This document provides information on the basic functions of AWUDS and the steps f
Authors
John P. Nawyn, B. Pierre Sargent, Barbara Hoopes, Todd Augenstein, Kathleen M. Rowland, Nancy L. Barber
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New Jersey Water Science Center

Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2010

About 355,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn for use in the United States during 2010, a decline of 13 percent from 2005 and a substantial change from the level of about 400,000 Mgal/d reported from 1985 to 2005. Withdrawals for 2010 were lower than withdrawals estimated for 1970. Fresh surface-water withdrawals (230,000 Mgal/d) were almost 15 percent less than in 2005, an
Authors
Nancy L. Barber
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010

Water use in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be about 355 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 13 percent less than in 2005. The 2010 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970. Freshwater withdrawals were 306 Bgal/d, or 86 percent of total withdrawals, and saline-water withdrawals were 48.3 Bgal/d, or 14 percent of total withdrawals. Fresh surface-wate
Authors
Molly A. Maupin, Joan F. Kenny, Susan S. Hutson, John K. Lovelace, Nancy L. Barber, Kristin S. Linsey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Idaho Water Science Center

Progress toward establishing a national assessment of water availability and use

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11) was passed into law on March 30, 2009. Subtitle F, also known as the SECURE Water Act, calls for the establishment of a "national water availability and use assessment program" within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). A major driver for this recommendation was that national water availability and use have not been comprehensively
Authors
William M. Alley, Eric J. Evenson, Nancy L. Barber, Breton W. Bruce, Kevin F. Dennehy, Mary Freeman, Ward O. Freeman, Jeffrey M. Fischer, William B. Hughes, Jonathan Kennen, Julie E. Kiang, Kelly O. Maloney, MaryLynn Musgrove, Barbara E. Ralston, Steven Tessler, James P. Verdin
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2005

About 410,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn for use in the United States during 2005. About 80 percent of the total (328,000 Mgal/d) withdrawal was from surface water, and about 82 percent of the surface water withdrawn was freshwater. The remaining 20 percent (82,600 Mgal/d) was withdrawn from groundwater, of which about 96 percent was freshwater. If withdrawals for ther
Authors
Nancy L. Barber
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program

Estimated use of water in the United States in 2005

Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 410 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d) were withdrawn in 2005 for all categories summarized in this report. This total is slightly less than the estimate for 2000, and about 5 percent less than total withdrawals in the peak year of 1980. Freshwater withdrawals in 2005 were 349 Bgal/d, or 85 percent of the total freshwater and saline-wat
Authors
Joan F. Kenny, Nancy L. Barber, Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, John K. Lovelace, Molly A. Maupin
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Kansas Water Science Center

Estimated use of water in the United States in 2000

No abstract available.
Authors
Deborah S. Lumia, Kristin S. Linsey, Nancy L. Barber
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program

Estimated withdrawals from principal aquifers in the United States, 2000

Fresh ground-water withdrawals from 66 principal aquifers in the United States were estimated for irrigation, public-supply, and self-supplied industrial water uses for the year 2000. Total ground-water withdrawals were 76,500 million gallons per day, or 85,800 thousand acre-feet per year for these three uses. Irrigation used the largest amount of ground water, 56,900 million gallons per day, foll
Authors
Molly A. Maupin, Nancy L. Barber
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000

Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 408 billion gallons per day (one thousand million gallons per day, abbreviated Bgal/d) were withdrawn for all uses during 2000. This total has varied less than 3 percent since 1985 as withdrawals have stabilized for the two largest uses?thermoelectric power and irrigation. Fresh ground-water withdrawals (83.3 Bgal/d) during 2000 were
Authors
Susan S. Hutson, Nancy L. Barber, Joan F. Kenny, Kristin S. Linsey, Deborah S. Lumia, Molly A. Maupin
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program

Droughts in Georgia

Droughts do not have the immediate effects of floods, but sustained droughts can cause economic stress throughout the State. The word 'drought' has various meanings, depending on a person's perspective. To a farmer, a drought is a period of moisture deficiency that affects the crops under cultivation - even two weeks without rainfall can stress many crops during certain periods of the growing cycl
Authors
Nancy L. Barber, Timothy C. Stamey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
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The 1977 Toccoa Flood - Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam, Georgia

The 1977 Toccoa Flood, Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings

The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above the Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, failed in the early morning hours of November 6, 1977. Thirty-nine people died in the resulting flood, which inundated part of the campus including a trailer park. These Web pages make available two historical reports on the flood and an album of photos of the disaster.
By
South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
link

The 1977 Toccoa Flood, Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings

The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above the Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, failed in the early morning hours of November 6, 1977. Thirty-nine people died in the resulting flood, which inundated part of the campus including a trailer park. These Web pages make available two historical reports on the flood and an album of photos of the disaster.
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Historic water tower in Chicago.
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Historic Chicago water tower.
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2015 Water Use Data Now Available

Estimated 2015 water-use data is now available in a variety of formats.

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Science and Products