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#  DATASET_NAME: utah.txt	
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#  REPORT TITLE: 
#     Estimated Withdrawals from Stream-Valley Aquifers and Refined 
#     Estimated Withdrawals from Selected Aquifers in the United 
#     States, 2000
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#  REPORT SERIES/NUMBER: Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5003 
#  REPORT URL: URL: http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085003
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#  NAWQA STUDY:	Alluvial Aquifers
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#  METADATA DATE:   August 28, 2008 
#  METADATA CONTACT: Pierre Sargent, Molly Maupin, Stephen Hinkl
#                    U.S. Geological Survey
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#                    Baton Rouge, LA 70816
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#                    voice: 225-298-5481 x 3211
#                    fax:   225-298-5490
#                    email: psargent@usgs.gov
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#  SECONDARY CONTACT:  Molly Maupin
#                      U.S. Geological Survey
#                      230 Collins Road
#                      Boise, ID 83702
#
#                    	voice: 208-387-1307
#                    	fax:   208-387-1372
#                    	email: mamaupin@usgs.gov
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#  TERTIARY CONTACT:   Stephen Hinkle
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#                      Portland, OR 97201
#	
#                      voice: 503-251-3237
#                      fax:   503-251-3470
#                      email: srhinkle@usgs.gov
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#  ABSTRACT:  
#     The report authors maintained notes detailing the process that 
#     was used to do the analysis for this report. The pertinent 
#     notes were included in the appendix of the report. 
#     Some details that did not warrant publication reside 
#     in these notes. These notes are being archived in the 
#     event that they might be of use to future water-use 
#     efforts aimed at stream-valley aquifers.
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# Related_Spatial_and_Tabular_Data_Sets:  
#     There are related text files of notes for all 25 states/territories in this study
#     arizona.txt
#     arkansas.txt
#     colorado.txt
#     illinois.txt
#     indiana.txt
#     kansas.txt
#     kentucky.txt
#     louisiana.txt
#     missouri.txt
#     montana.txt
#     nebraska.txt
#     new_mexico.txt
#     new_york.txt
#     new_jersey.txt
#     north_dakota.txt
#     ohio.txt
#     oklahoma.txt
#     pennsylvania.txt
#     puerto_rico.txt
#     south_dakota.txt
#     tennessee.txt
#     texas.txt
#     utah.txt
#     west_virginia.txt
#     wyoming.txt
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#  METADATA Basic documentation of dataset elements:
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#     DATA DESCRIPTION: 
#         Text files describing the analysis process, one text file 
#         for each state
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#     DATA TYPES: ascii text
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#     DATA SOURCES: notes taken during data analysis and from correspondance
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Utah SVA Documentation
December 12, 2005

   In 2000 total fresh water ground-water withdrawals in Utah was approximately 1,020 Mgal/d. Public supply, self-supply industrial and irrigation uses accounted for 868 Mgal/d, or 85 percent of the total.  Alluvial and Other type aquifers were not major sources of ground water for Utahs water uses. Nearly 87 percent of the total aquifer withdrawals were recorded in the western half of the State and attributed to the Basin and Range basin-fill or carbonate aquifers. Alluvial and Other aquifer withdrawals totaled only 63.3 Mgal/d, split almost equally with 31.6 and 31.7 Mgal/d, respectively. They represented only 6 percent of total aquifer withdrawals. Irrigation was the dominant water use for alluvial aquifers (22.9 Mgal/d out of a total of 31.6 Mgal/d).  All of the Other aquifer withdrawals were attributed to public supply (31.7 Mgal/d).
   Very little public-supply and self-supplied industrial data for 2000 were assumed or estimated (Larry Spangler, Utah WSC water-use specialist, written commun. 2000 compilation documentation). Data were derived directly from the purveyors or the State. Much of the data were collected by site and reported as part of a county total and were available through the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights. Public-water suppliers and self-supplied industrial users are required to submit yearly information about their withdrawals and sources to the Division. Because the State does not guarantee the validity of the reported data, Larry also checked and obtained more data through oral communication with water system managers, industrial users, county extension agents, colleagues, and private individuals. Besides what Larry provided for this study, more data were gleaned from the Water Rights website (http://waterrights.utah.gov/distinfo/wuse.asp) about the water suppliers, including well and spring locations, well logs, population data, and historical withdrawal data. Information about geologic and aquifer characteristics was gleaned from Utah Geological Survey maps, reports and databases (see reference below and online website of interest). Larry provided a list of the county withdrawals (totals by use) and the SVAs that they were assigned to (written commun. Email 8/4/2005). Not all county alluvial withdrawals were allocated to an SVA. Some of the smaller values were not assigned because the original alluvial withdrawals were estimated and not derived from site-specific data. Further associations between alluvial withdrawals and SVAs were attempted and made using the Utah water rights website and other geologic reports (see references). Some of the estimates were assigned if enough substantiating information was available, but often there just wasnt enough information to validate an association.  For example withdrawals in Summit County were not associated to an SVA aquifer because data for geohydrologic settings only in the Snyderville Basin (near Park City) were available and its not clear how much of the total Summit County withdrawals belong to that basin. The table Orig_aquibycounty_WU in the spreadsheet UTtable_12Dec05.xls shows those counties where allocations to SVA were hinted at, but not made with assurances.
   Aquifer systems are referenced to the National Ground-Water Atlas (http://capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/gwa.htm) and definitions were included as part of the National Water Use Program guidelines. The Pacific Northwest Basin-fill aquifers were not used in Utahs 2000 compilation because the water-use specialist (Larry Spangler) determined it was not utilized in the State. Where possible, aquifers in areas delineated as Not a Principal Aquifer (fig. 11, pg C4 GWA) were identified and classified in one of the other principal aquifers. Stream-valley alluvial withdrawals are disaggregated from alluvial deposits that are depicted on Figure 18 of the Ground-Water Atlas (pg. C7) in mountainous areas west of the Wasatch Range (not coincident with Basin and Range basin-fill or Basin and Range carbonate aquifers). Thus, the 2000 compilation alluvial withdrawals were identified in areas coincident with the Colorado Plateau (fig. 11, pg C4 of GWA) aquifer area, but were compiled separate, and not confused with, the Colorado Plateau aquifer system. 
   Most counties in Utah rely upon surface-water withdrawals for irrigation, with ground water being a relatively minor component of use. Except for surface-water irrigation, no coefficients were used for estimating withdrawals. Water from springs that flow over the land surface for a significant distance before entering canals and ditches, and is later diverted, is considered surface water. This might have implications of the determination of stream-valley aquifer withdrawals in areas where springs are near rivers or streams and a hydrologic interchange exists between ground and surface-water sources. It is impossible to describe where all of these types of conditions exist, or the volumes of water that are affected by such conditions, but ground-water may be included with surface-water estimates. 
   Ground-water withdrawals for irrigation were determined from pumpage inventories done annually by USGS hydrologic technicians. Withdrawals are determined directly from pumping wells during the irrigation season or by using electrical records to determine quantities of water that had been pumped in areas where Utah conducts annual ground-water studies. These data are compiled from all of the major irrigated valleys in Utah (almost all are in the Basin and Range region) and are published annually in Ground-Water Conditions in Utah. Water withdrawn from wells in less significant areas of irrigation in the State were estimated using previously published data and current knowledge of irrigation practices in the area. Counties that have estimated irrigation withdrawals were Duchesne, Garfield, Rich, Uintah and Wasatch. 
   Public-supply withdrawals in Uintah and Box Elder Counties are derived from springs that discharge from glacial outwash deposits, and do not fit the definition for this study of stream-valley alluvial deposits. They are tabulated in UTtable_18May05 as separate withdrawals not associated with a SVA, but still qualifying as alluvial withdrawals.

Reference Section:
Utah Water Use Program, annual historical data, accessed December 16, 2005 from http://waterrights.utah.gov/distinfo/wuse.asp. Annual water-use data and ancillary information for wells and springs available at http://waterrights.utah.gov/cgi-bin/wuseview.exe?Startup (accessed December 16, 2005). 

Ashland, F.X., Bishop, C.E., Lowe, M., and Mayes, B.H., 2001, The Geology of the 	Snyderville Basin, Western Summit County, Utah, and its relation to Ground-	Water Conditions, Water Resources Bulletin 28, Utah Department of Natural 	Resources, access at http://www.ugs.state.ut.us/online/wrb/wrb-28.pdf, December 	16, 2005.
Elsinger, C., and Lowe M., 1999, A Summary of the Ground-Water Resources and 	Geohydrology of Grand County, Utah Geological Survey Circular 99, 
	accessed at http://www.ugs.state.ut.us/online/c/c-99.pdf on December 16, 2005.
 
Online website of interest: http://www.ugs.state.ut.us/utahgeo/water/index.htm#resources
