| The Office of Land and Water Resources’ Water-Use Program supplies groundwater withdrawal data for ongoing OLWR hydrologic studies, public information requests, and information requested from other state, local, and federal agencies. |
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| The goal of the OLWR Water-Use Program is to determine to the best degree possible: |
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| The amount of water withdrawn from a particular water well. |
| When it was withdrawn? |
| What it was used for? |
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The OLWR Water-Use Program was initiated in 1992 to compile site-specific freshwater withdrawal data from Mississippi’s aquifers. This withdrawal data represents a measurement of the stress applied to aquifer systems by pumping wells and is one of the critical sets of information used by the OLWR. To track these withdrawals, a computer database (The Mississippi Groundwater Withdrawals Database, MGWD) was created.
In 1994, the OLWR Water-Use Program established the Annual Water-Use Survey to assess current freshwater withdrawals for selected wells. The survey is mailed to approximately 2500 permitted well owners pertaining to approximately 4000 water wells. This annual survey not only allows the OLWR staff to collect current, site specific groundwater withdrawal information from the well owners but also includes updated engineering data for the wells, changes in well ownership, and aids in the inventorying and identification of Mississippi’s freshwater wells. The survey is timed to be mailed out during the spring so that the water users being queried will have had time to develop final pumpage data for the previous calendar year. The annual survey not only queries well owners for annual pumpage information but also tracks:
- Updated well engineering data
- Changes in wells ownership
- Changes in well status (active, standby, abandoned, unused)
Along with compiling current and historical pumpage data for Mississippi’s groundwater wells, the staff members are also in the process of correlating the associated well identification numbers. These identification numbers are:
¨ OLWR well Permit number
¨ MSDH well number
¨ U.S. Geological Survey number
¨ The local well’s identification number or name
¨ NPDES number
MSGWD Summary
The OLWR Water-Use Program currently tracks pumpage for 5115 freshwater wells in the state.
The Annual Water-Use Survey queries approximately 1600 well owners regarding 5065 wells.
The information surveyed for:
· OLWR Permit Number
· MSDH Well Tag Number
· County
· Well Depth
· Well’s Current Output Rating
· Casing Diameter
· Date Drilled
· Well Status (active, standby, etc)
· Connections
· Population Served
· Total Gallons Pumped in last physical year
· Contact information of the owner
· Amount of water bought or sold by system
· Number of wells of system
Reported Pumpage by Category
2002
| Commercial | .8 MGD |
| Domestic | 1.1 MGD |
| Fish Culture | 3.0 MGD |
| Industry | 106.3 MGD |
| Irrigation | 1.8 MGD |
| Institutions | 4.7 MGD |
| Municipal | 170.3 MGD |
| Public Water | 78.8 MGD |
| Wild Life | .2 MGD |
Total | 367 MGD |
Water Use Facts
Typical categories of residential water use include normal household uses such as
- Drinking and cooking
- Bathing
- Toilet flushing
- Washing clothes and dishes
- Watering lawns and gardens
- Maintaining swimming pools
- Washing cars.
By far the largest percentage of indoor water use occurs in the bathroom, with 41 percent used for toilet flushing and 33 percent for bathing.
Water Use Links
These links are provided as a public service to visitors of this website and are not endorsed by the Mississippi Department of Environment Quality.
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