USGS Oklahoma Water Science Center Water Use Information

Water Resources of Oklahoma

Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals in
Oklahoma, 1995
by Robert L. Tortorelli

Introduction

This web page presents 1995 freshwater withdrawal estimates for Oklahoma by source and category. Withdrawal source is either ground water or surface water. Withdrawal categories include: irrigation, water supply, livestock, thermoelectric-power generation, domestic and commercial, and industrial and mining. Withdrawal data are aggregated and tabulated by county, principal river basin, and major aquifer. Total withdrawals and three major categories of irrigation, water supply, and livestock, also are presented in ranked order for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the National Water-Use Information Program in 1977 to collect uniform, current, and reliable information on water use. The USGS has compiled national estimates every 5 years since 1950. The national water use compilation for 1995 is described in USGS Circular 1200, Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 1995 (Solley and others, 1998). The data presented here are the result of the 1995 compilation effort for Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Water Science Center of the USGS and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board participate in a cooperative program to collect and publish water-use information for Oklahoma. Data contained in this web page were made available through the cooperative program.

Terminology

Withdrawal is the amount of water withdrawn or diverted from a ground- or surface-water source. Use is the amount of water that is brought into a facility (or to an irrigation area) for use, and is equal to the withdrawal plus delivery from water suppliers minus any loss that occurred prior to use. Fresh water is defined as water containing less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids.

See definitions used in this web page.

Approach

Water-use data were estimated using 1995 Oklahoma Water Resources Board data as the primary data source. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board collects water-use data through an annual survey of permitted water users.

See a more detailed discussion of the approach used to compile water use data.

Estimated Freshwater Withdrawals

During 1995 in Oklahoma:

Total quantity of freshwater withdrawals for all purposes was estimated to be 1,782 million gallons per day.
Total surface-water withdrawals were estimated to be 822.5 million gallons per day or 46 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.
Total ground-water withdrawals were about 959.6 million gallons per day or 54 percent of the total freshwater withdrawals.

For the top four withdrawal categories:

Irrigation withdrawals accounted for 49 percent of total withdrawals and for 80 percent of ground-water withdrawals.
Water-supply withdrawals accounted for 32 percent of total withdrawals. Ground water was the source for 17 percent and surface water was the source for 83 percent of water-supply withdrawals.
Livestock withdrawals accounted for 8 percent of the total withdrawals.
Thermoelectric-power generation accounted for 7 percent of total withdrawals.

For the top three counties the largest amount of fresh water withdrawn for:

Irrigation purposes was in Texas County, followed by Cimarron and Jackson Counties.
Water-supply purposes was in Mayes County, followed by Rogers and Oklahoma Counties.
Livestock purposes was in Texas, Cimarron, and Caddo Counties.
Thermoelectric-power generation purposes was in Muskogee County, followed by Pawnee, and Mayes Counties, which accounted for over 60 percent of the withdrawals.

TABLES

Table 1: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 1995 by county , use, and source for the 77 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 2: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 1995 by principal river basin and use for the 10 principal river basins in Oklahoma.

Table 3: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for 1995 by aquifer and use for 8 major and 2 minor aquifers in Oklahoma.

Table 4: Amount of total estimated freshwater withdrawals for 1995 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 5: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for irrigation in 1995 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 6: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for water supply in 1995 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

Table 7: Amount of estimated freshwater withdrawals for livestock in 1995 by source for the top 10 counties in Oklahoma.

For more discussion on water use in the United States see the USGS water use link.

Selected References.