The coastal region which includes areas within 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. The Coastal Carolinas study area includes lower parts of the Yadkin/Pee Dee/Waccamaw River, Cape Fear River, and New River Basins extending from Georgetown, South Carolina up through Jacksonville, North Carolina area. 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 that could be used in a surface-water model, a groundwater model, and an ecological flow model. The simulations produced by these models could then be used to make predictions about future water availability and needs in the Coastal Carolina study area. This data release presents surface-water and groundwater off-stream water-use estimates for selected water use categories; for areas bounded by HUC8 and state boundaries within the Coastal Carolinas study area; from years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015.

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.

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.

This dataset depicts the river lengths along which Critical Habitat has been designated (82 FR 39160, August 17, 2017) for the Carolina DPS of Atlantic Sturgeon. Critical habitat includes all of the river along the specified segment, from the ordinary high water mark of one riverbank to the ordinary high water mark of the opposing riverbank of the mainstem of the river, to the downstream limit at the bank-to-bank transect of the specified segment. For clarification of the critical habitat definition, please refer to the maps and narrative descriptions in the CFR. It is a product of the NOAA Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO). Dataset includes boundaries for the following Regulated Areas: Critical Habitat Carolina Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Sturgeon: Roanoke River, Tar-Pamlico River, Neuse River, Cape Fear River, Pee Dee River, Black River, Santee River and Cooper River. Because GIS projection and topology functions can change or generalize coordinates, these GIS files are considered to be approximate representations and are NOT an OFFICIAL record for the exact Area boundaries. For information on the official legal definition refer to the Use Constraints metadata section.