The Pee Dee and Cape Fear River Basins in North Carolina and South Carolina were chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. One task to meet this objective was compiling water withdrawal and return data by category from local, regional, and state-scale data sources so that those data could be utilized in surface-water models, a groundwater model, an ecological flow model, and for predictions of future water needs. This dataset presents wastewater-return estimates from years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 which are aggregated to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model catchment-area level developed for the Pee Dee and Cape Fear River Basins.

The Cape Fear and Pee Dee River Basins in North Carolina and South Carolina were chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. One task to meet this objective was compiling water withdrawal and return data by water-use category from local, regional, and state-scale data sources and utilizing those data in Surface-water models, a Groundwater model, an Ecological flow model, and for predictions of future water needs. This data release presents surface-water withdrawals for the Pee Dee and Cape Fear HUC4 river basins in North and South Carolina.

The Cape Fear and Pee Dee River Basins in North Carolina and South Carolina were chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. One task to meet this objective was compiling water withdrawal and return data by water-use category from local, regional, and state-scale data sources and utilizing those data in Surface-water models, a Groundwater model, an Ecological flow model, and for predictions of future water needs. This data release presents surface-water withdrawals for the Pee Dee and Cape Fear HUC4 river basins in North and South Carolina.

The coastal region which includes areas within the Pee Dee, Cape Fear, and Neuse-Pamlico River Basins in South Carolina and North Carolina was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make informed decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability, climate change, and population growth to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. One task to meet this objective was compiling water withdrawal and return data and other water use information from local, regional, and state-scale data sources. This information was used to develop water-use estimates used in a surface-water model, a groundwater model, and an ecological flow model. The simulations produced by these models were subsequently used to make predictions about future water availability and needs in the Coastal Carolina study area. This data release presents groundwater-withdrawals for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina within the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The coastal region which includes areas within the Pee Dee, Cape Fear, and Neuse-Pamlico River Basins in South Carolina and North Carolina was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make informed decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability, climate change, and population growth to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. One task to meet this objective was compiling water withdrawal and return data and other water use information from local, regional, and state-scale data sources. This information was used to develop water-use estimates used in a surface-water model, a groundwater model, and an ecological flow model. The simulations produced by these models were subsequently used to make predictions about future water availability and needs in the Coastal Carolina study area. This data release presents groundwater-withdrawals for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina within the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The Cape Fear and Pee Dee River Basins in North Carolina and South Carolina were chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) in 2016. The objective of the NWC is to place technical information and tools in the hands of stake holders so that they can make decisions on water availability. The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, comprised of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, conducted a 3-year study of water use and availability to provide information related to the competing societal and ecological water needs in the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. The Coastal Carolinas study area includes the Pee Dee and Cape Fear River Basins and the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Brunswick, Georgia, to near Greenville, North Carolina. The study is divided into 5 main components: 1) Societal Water-Use Data Compilation and Refinement, 2) Land-Use, Population, Water-Use and Climate Change Scenarios, 3) Surface-Water Modeling, 4) Ecological Response Modeling, and 5) Groundwater Modeling. One task to meet this objective was to compile water withdrawal and return data by water-use category from local, regional, and state-scale data sources in order to utilize those data in surface-water models, a groundwater model, an ecological flow model, and for predictions of future water needs. This data release contains (1) Groundwater withdrawals for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina aggregated by groundwater MODFLOW model cell area, year, and water-use category; (2) Surface-water withdrawal estimates for years 1983 – 2017 aggregated to the Soil and Water Assessment (SWAT) model catchment level developed for the Pee Dee and Cape Fear River Basins; (3) Wastewater return estimates from years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 aggregated to the Soil and Water Assessment (SWAT) model catchment level developed for the Pee Dee and Cape Fear River Basins; and (4) Surface-water and groundwater off-stream water-use estimates in the Coastal Carolinas study area for selected water-use categories from years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 aggregated to the 8-digit (subbasin) hydrologic unit level within state boundaries in the Coastal Carolinas study area.

A Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model was developed to estimate annual net infiltration below the root-zone for the Greater Wake County area, North Carolina for the period 1981 through 2019. The model was developed as part of a study to assess groundwater availability in the fractured-rock aquifers underlying Wake County. Curve number, maximum net infiltration rate, and root-zone depth parameters for all land cover classes were adjusted in the SWB model to manually test parameter sensitivity and adjust for best fit. Annual net infiltration estimates from the SWB model were also compared with annual base flow estimates from the PART hydrograph separation technique using the USGS Groundwater Toolbox (Barlow and others, 2015) for available years of streamflow record at 6 sites within the model area (02089000, 02087570, 02087324, 02087359, 02088500, 02097314), as base flow is assumed to be nearly equivalent to effective groundwater recharge (Nelms and others, 1997). This USGS data release contains all the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225041), as well as model output comparisons with base flow estimates. Also included in this data release is the map of hydrogeologic units in Wake County used in this study.

A Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model was developed to estimate annual net infiltration below the root-zone for the Greater Wake County area, North Carolina for the period 1981 through 2019. The model was developed as part of a study to assess groundwater availability in the fractured-rock aquifers underlying Wake County. Curve number, maximum net infiltration rate, and root-zone depth parameters for all land cover classes were adjusted in the SWB model to manually test parameter sensitivity and adjust for best fit. Annual net infiltration estimates from the SWB model were also compared with annual base flow estimates from the PART hydrograph separation technique using the USGS Groundwater Toolbox (Barlow and others, 2015) for available years of streamflow record at 6 sites within the model area (02089000, 02087570, 02087324, 02087359, 02088500, 02097314), as base flow is assumed to be nearly equivalent to effective groundwater recharge (Nelms and others, 1997). This USGS data release contains all the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225041), as well as model output comparisons with base flow estimates. Also included in this data release is the map of hydrogeologic units in Wake County used in this study.

A soil-water balance model (SWB) was developed to estimate recharge to the groundwater flow system in Florida and parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina for the period 1995 through 2010. The model was not calibrated; however, various water budget components from the model output compared reasonably well with other estimates. The model was used to estimate recharge to the groundwater flow system as part of a preliminary water budget exercise described in the associated report (http://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185030).

A soil-water balance model (SWB) was developed to estimate potential recharge to the groundwater system in Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender counties North Carolina 1980 through 2016 to support a regional groundwater flow model being produced for the surficial, Castle Hayne, and Peedee Aquifer System. The SWB model was not calibrated; however, various water budget components from the model output compared reasonably well with other estimates including evapotranspiration rates reported by NASA's MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite platform. This USGS data release contains all the input and output files for the simulations described in this data release.