North Carolina Agricultural Water Use 2018

NORTH
CAROLINA
Agricultural Water Use

2018

NCDA&CS 2 W. Edenton Street Raleigh, NC 27601
(919)856-4394 Internet: http://www.ncagr.com/stats
1

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N O RT H CAR O LINA

2018 Agricultural Water Use Survey
The eighth statewide survey was conducted to document
water use for the agricultural sector during 2018. As directed in
legislation enacted in 2008 (SL2008-0143), the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Agricultural
Statistics Division, is required to collect annual information from
farmers who withdraw 10,000 gallons or more in any one day.
Individual responses remain confidential and are only used in
combination with other reports to produce totals.
Farmers who use over 1,000,000 gallons in any one day are
required to report their water usage directly to the Department
of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DEQ’s report can be found
on http://www.ncwater.org/Permits_and_Registration/Water_
Withdrawal_and_Transfer_Registration/report .
When looking at agricultural water use from a total volume
withdrawn perspective, table 1 on page 4 is most representative
of total water use. Because farms that withdraw the largest
amounts of water do not make those withdrawals every day, the
average daily use across all days of the year is most representative
of relative volumes used. On average, farm operations that use
irrigation will withdraw water about 17 days each month. Field
crop operations use water even less often, primarily to supplement
rainfall. While there are other agricultural users of water,
including livestock and poultry producers, aquaculture farms,
and others, the largest volume of water use is from irrigators. The
average North Carolina farm that uses water does so infrequently
and in relatively small amounts. Table 2 on page 7 displays
“demand” use, which is calculated by dividing the total water
withdrawn for the month by the days applied.
The results of this survey reflect water withdrawals from
ground and surface sources. Many comparisons across sectors
will incorporate an estimate of consumptive use of withdrawals.
The definition of a consumptive use varies depending on
the source. Most experts in agricultural sciences consider
consumptive use to be the amount of water that is either taken
up by plants, or evaporated. According to an Economic Research
Service (USDA) report, irrigation consumptive use on farms is
about 61 percent of total withdrawals nationally. This can vary
greatly between regions depending on the type of system used and
efficiency of the irrigation equipment. https://www.ers.usda.gov/
webdocs/publications/41964/30286_wateruse.pdf?v=41143

Of the farms surveyed in the state, 1025 withdrew over
10,000 gallons of water in any one day. The majority of the state
experienced abnormally dry soil moisture conditions in January,
but conditions improved across the state during the first quarter.
Soil conditions were considered normal throughout the majority
of the state in the following three quarters. July was the largest
water use month in 2018, averaging 110.9 million gallons daily,
with a maximum daily withdrawal of 258.8 million gallons. The
annual average daily water use for 2018 was 60.2 million gallons.
The daily withdrawal capacity for the 1025 operations totaled 1.2
billion gallons in 2018.
A questionnaire was mailed to operations which had potential
for large water usage. Operations that did not respond were
contacted by telephone follow-up. In addition, livestock and
poultry contractors in the state were contacted by email, phone, or
mail.

The unique number of operations, the annual average daily
ground and surface usage, as well as the capacity is published by
county and by hydrologic unit codes (HUC). The capacity is the
potential amount of ground and/or surface water that could be
withdrawn in a 24-hour period. The published capacity represents
the sum of capacities for all reporting operations in that county
or HUC. In nearly all cases, this capacity was never met. Data
was not disclosed if there were less than three operations in any
category or if one report comprised 60 percent or more of the
total.
One survey instrument was used to gather data for the
whole state as well as for the Central Coastal Plain Capacity Use
Area (CCPCUA). Results for the CCPCUA are summarized and
published in a separate table.

3

Table 1: Total & Average Daily Water Withdrawn 1
2018 North Carolina Water Use by Month
Month

Operations

Monthly Total
Ground

MonthlyTotal
Surface

Average Across
All Days-Ground

Average Across
All Days-Surface

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

Number
January

671

296,204,426

953,338,945

9,554,981

30,752,869

February

676

278,864,356

983,363,881

9,959,441

35,120,139

March

730

353,841,137

1,209,660,116

11,414,230

39,021,294

April

793

419,861,281

1,393,105,505

13,995,376

46,436,850

May

832

453,604,857

1,376,070,828

14,632,415

44,389,382

June

929

1,016,079,127

2,017,313,534

33,869,304

67,243,784

July

934

1,146,292,552

2,290,541,801

36,977,179

73,888,445

August

855

684,421,774

1,864,711,208

22,078,122

60,151,974

September

770

454,515,121

1,203,487,906

15,150,504

40,116,264

October

724

430,565,172

973,041,191

13,889,199

31,388,426

November

680

366,299,667

805,379,324

12,209,989

26,845,977

December

660

292,962,711

724,455,844

9,450,410

23,369,543

16,931,763

43,227,079

Annual Average
Operations :

Daily Withdrawal Capacity (incl. ground & surface):

1025 Total Operations

1,200,116,130 Gallons

Users of 10,000 gallons or more per day. Averages reported in this table reflect the average water withdrawn across all days of the month. Farms that
reported their withdrawals directly to DEQ by June 10, 2019 have been excluded. The monthly number of operations will not add to the total. Some
operations reported both surface and ground water withdrawals, which are counted twice in the monthly number of operations. However, the total number
of operations represents operations that withdrew water at any time during the year, regardless if withdrawn from multiple sources.

1

Average Across All Days
Ground & Surface Water Withdrawals
2008–2018

Million Gallons

200
180

2008

160

2009

140

2011

2010
2012

120

2014

100

2016

80

2018

60
40
20
0
Jan
4

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2018 Annual Water Withdrawals by Percent

Nursery/Greenhouse
12%

Poultry
3%

Hogs
13%

Fruit/Vegetables
11%

Aquaculture*
38%

Field Crops
22%

Other Livestock**
1%
*92% of aquaculture water withdrawals occurred in western counties from rivers and streams and are typically flow through /non-consumptive.
** Other Livestock includes cattle, horses, goats, sheep, etc.

Gallons

2018 Average Daily Water Withdrawals

26,000,000
24,000,000
22,000,000
20,000,000
18,000,000
16,000,000
14,000,000
12,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
Gallons 0

Poultry

Hogs

Aquaculture *

Other
Livestock **

Field Crops

Fruit/
Vegetables

Nursery/
Greenhouse

*92% of aquaculture water withdrawals occurred in western counties from rivers and streams and are typically flow through non-consumptive ***Other
Livestock includes cattle, horses, goats, sheep, etc.
5

2018 Annual Surface Water Withdrawals
Operation
Counts

Volume*

Lakes &
Ponds
35%

Rivers &
Streams
65%

Lakes &
Ponds
298

Rivers &
Streams
145

*74% of River & Stream Withdrawals were made by aquaculture operations and are typically flow through/non-consumptive.

6

Table 2: Demand Use for Days Applied 1
2018 North Carolina Water Use by Month
Month

Average Days
Applied Ground

Average Days
Applied Surface

Total Average
Daily-Ground

Total Average
Daily-Surface

Total Max
Daily-Ground

Total Max
Daily-Surface

Days

Days

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

January

28

16

10,857,288

34,531,266

11,864,106

34,867,145

February

25

14

11,388,949

40,892,514

12,522,646

41,154,374

March

27

14

16,733,307

83,459,103

20,165,512

84,656,081

April

27

15

27,247,047

112,513,732

33,116,438

115,527,468

May

27

16

30,743,327

79,723,061

35,221,340

87,529,512

June

26

15

72,449,562

129,486,949

80,938,835

144,331,114

July

27

15

69,520,220

144,447,895

83,759,645

175,084,872

August

27

16

42,818,158

134,865,903

53,467,002

169,216,163

September

27

17

27,104,151

99,817,045

30,067,784

106,800,152

October

28

18

19,208,792

43,270,410

21,053,885

47,874,850

November

28

16

18,966,753

35,364,450

22,099,687

36,058,797

December

28

16

10,675,381

28,298,559

11,890,754

29,172,768

29,809,411

80,555,907

Annual Average
1

Users of 10,000 gallons or more per day. Averages reported in this table reflect the average water withdrawn during the days of application. Farms that
reported their withdrawals directly to DEQ by June 10, 2019 have been excluded.

7

2018 North Carolina Water Use
County Summary
County

Annual
Unique
Average
Operations 1 Daily 2
Ground
Number

Gallons

Daily
Withdrawal
Capacity 3

Gallons

County

Gallons

Annual
Unique
Average
Operations 1 Daily 2
Ground
Number

Alexander

8

53,969

*

Anson

7

131,678

*

*

Beaufort

4

180,074

*

6,310,584

67

1,124,806

*

181,629,684

Bladen

2,459,375

Rockingham
Rowan

Gallons

14

Annual
Average
Daily 2
Surface

Daily
Withdrawal
Capacity 3

Gallons

Gallons

*

103,402

10,662,383

5

15,002

*

*

105

2,146,576

*

54,718,082

Surry

10

61,413

*

*

Sampson

Chatham

9

39,342

*

1,563,222

Union

23

183,709

*

9,827,583

Cleveland

10

121,862

*

1,394,178

Wake

23

75,486

*

14,969,842

Columbus

7

115,803

*

*

Warren

11

51,026

210,540

8,725,751

Davidson

9

*

64,422

10,773,068

Wayne

25

457,542

*

9,534,874

115

2,658,879

*

61,014,445

Wilkes

10

74,399

*

1,610,952

10

60,771

*

26,548,992

Yadkin

6

71,121

*

1,169,461

Gates

9

*

295,254

*

Guilford

9

*

342,463

9,555,501

265

5,790,245

38,238,465

478,126,515

Halifax

9

111,170

*

4,655,656

1025

16,931,763

12

148,068

*

*

8

80,428

*

2,424,566

Duplin
Edgecombe

Hertford
Iredell

8

Annual
Average
Daily 2
Surface

Johnston

31

*

799,507

15,904,675

Lee

13

38,543

*

4,840,168
*

Lenoir

9

91,080

*

McDowell

5

125,084

*

*

Montgomery

11

53,281

*

2,267,753

Moore

23

86,987

66,300

22,583,226

Nash

23

80,505

761,770

20,768,883

Northampton

19

254,404

*

20,677,157

Onslow

6

62,934

*

439,738

Pender

26

435,554

2,276,009

178,340,460

Randolph

16

97,089

68,947

7,166,419

Richmond

12

124,962

*

3,184,523

Robeson

41

1,727,970

*

26,268,414

Other
Counties4
State

43,227,079 1,200,116,130

* * disclosure - one operation is greater than 60% of total or less
than 3 operations reported. 1 represents the unique number of
operations which withdrew surface and or ground water 2 represents
the average across all days of the year 3 includes ground and surface
4
includes nondisclosed data from the table above and all data for
Alamance, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Bertie, Brunswick, Buncombe,
Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Catawba,
Cherokee, Chowan, Clay, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare,
Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Graham, Granville,
Greene, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hoke, Hyde, Jackson,
Jones, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Martin, Mecklenburg, Mitchell,
New Hanover, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans,
Person, Pitt, Polk, Rutherford, Scotland, Stanley, Stokes, Swain,
Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, Washington, Watauga, Wilson,
Yancey, as well as non-disclosed data from the published counties.

2018 North Carolina Water Use - Hydrologic Unit Code Summary
Hydrologic Unit
Code

Unique
Operations 1
Number

Annual
Average Daily 2
Ground

Annual
Average Daily 2
Surface

Daily
Withdrawal
Capacity 3

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

03010203

26

342,520

03010204

10

106,781

*

8,274,744

03020101

40

120,025

376,484

40,659,243

03020102

15

94,666

670,367

12,159,350

03020103

17

251,700

*

30,680,207

03020201

62

490,676

1,213,123

42,778,780

03020202

16

179,704

94,018

7,569,851

03020203

42

1,329,469

1,273,234

50,061,840

03020204

6

68,271

*

518,361

03030002

34

*

435,293

36,463,180

03030003

44

240,949

230,321

25,177,477

03030004

29

241,687

*

10,651,960

03030006

128

2,238,257

1,973,501

164,405,334

03030007

153

3,795,738

3,250,743

219,594,482

03040101

36

326,192

*

23,896,078

03040102

13

98,390

111,854

4,476,758

03040103

59

862,496

*

61,153,926

03040104

11

74,765

*

1,908,290

03040203

39

1,319,757

*

22,857,883

03040204

39

985,967

*

15,364,726

03050105

10

140,302

*

1,554,698

196

3,623,449

31,433,979

378,994,453

1025

16,931,763

43,227,079

1,200,116,130

Other HUC
State

4

2,164,162

40,914,509

* disclosure - one operation is greater than 60% of total or less than 3 operations reported.
1
represents the unique number of operations which withdrew surface and or ground water 2 represents the average across all days
of the year 3 includes ground and surface 4 includes nondisclosed data from the table above and all data for 03010102, 03010103,
03010104, 03010106, 03010107, 03010205, 03020104, 03020105, 03020301, 03020302, 03030005, 03040105, 03040201, 03040206,
03040208, 03050101, 03050102, 03050103, 05050001, 06010103, 06010105, 06010106, 06010108, 06010202, 06010203, 06010204,
06020002, 06020003

9

2018 Central Coastal Plain Total Water Use by Month 1
Month

Operations

Average Across
All Days-Ground

Average Across
All Days-Surface

Total Max
Daily-Ground

Total Max
Daily-Surface

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

Gallons

Number
January

182

3,404,075

1,345,640

3,642,469

February

187

3,645,591

1,590,604

4,002,182

2,109,173

March

195

3,872,225

2,326,428

6,707,424

10,527,232

April

204

5,856,419

4,472,391

15,942,679

20,090,655

May

214

4,822,012

3,236,209

12,185,028

8,824,626

June

226

10,619,187

8,304,058

23,408,352

22,223,245

July

221

12,251,259

8,908,236

28,813,074

21,171,661

August

216

7,150,574

6,494,147

18,030,043

21,474,707

September

199

5,080,760

4,690,475

15,063,592

19,517,893

October

193

6,553,640

5,780,003

11,154,619

12,591,066

November

186

5,846,154

3,725,677

11,777,655

9,511,453

December

180

3,275,462

1,248,846

3,650,118

1,581,536

6,031,447

4,343,560

Annual Average
Operations:

Daily Withdrawal Capacity (incl. ground & surface):

236 Total Operations

167,881,198 Gallons

1,524,973

Users of 10,000 gallons or more per day. Averages reported in this table reflect the average water withdrawn across all days of the month. Farms that reported
their withdrawals directly to DEQ by June 10, 2019 have been excluded. The total number of operations represents operations that withdrew water at any time
during the year. Central Coastal Plain Counties include Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt,
Washington, Wayne, and Wilson

1

Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC)
04
030101

03010103

03040101

03010102

06010108

03020201
03040103

03030003

03020203

02

03020104

03
501
030

03030004

00
03
03

03040203

03030007

05
03040206

08
402
030

10

03020105

03020204

03030006

04
02
04
03

03040201

03020202

03020301

030
203
02

02

03040202

030
401
04

03

03050105
03040105

03060101
03060102

03010205

03010107

03020103

06010105

01
05
03

06
101
060

02
01
06

02
01
06
03060102

03020101

03030002
03040102

03050101

06020002
06020003

030102
04

030
201
02

06010103

06010204

03010201

03010106

0301
0203

01
500
050

Statistical Defensibility
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Agricultural Statistics Division
conducted a census of all known farm operations in North Carolina which had farming types that could
potentially use more than 10,000 gallons of water in one day. More than 3,200 such operations were
contacted and included farms with a history of withdrawing more than 10,000 gallons on any one day
from surface or ground sources. Also included were operations with large numbers of poultry, hogs,
cattle, aquaculture, fruits, vegetables, nursery/ greenhouse crops, tobacco, or other field crops which
are often irrigated. An 80% response rate was attained via mail, phone, or electronically via the web or
email. Historical data for all respondents was reviewed to insure comparability with previous surveys.
Operations were offered work sheets which assisted them, if necessary, in reporting their withdrawals.
The Census of Agriculture List, the most comprehensive source of farms, was used as the basis for this
survey. Although no under-coverage estimator has been applied, the list of NC farmers is expanded on
a daily basis as new operations are discovered through routine list building activities. Since agricultural
operations that withdraw at least 10,000 gallons of water per day tend to be larger, more intensive farms,
under-coverage for this survey is minimal based on historic surveys with similar operations. When
reasonable, non-respondents’ usage was estimated based on their own historical reports.
Taking the above steps, including conducting a census of all known farm operations that use at least
10,000 gallons of water on any one day, results in zero sampling error around the estimates and minimal
non-sampling and coverage error. Response rates in 2018 reached a point where individual non-response
estimation was no longer feasible. Thus, a nonresponse adjustment expansion factor was applied. It was
derived by dividing the universe count by the count of records with usable data.
Prior to the 2008 NC Agricultural Water Use Survey, there was no official statistically defensible data set
to represent agricultural water use in North Carolina.

11

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