The Central Coastal Plain
Water Use Area [CCPCUA] 8007
The survey was conducted to document water use for the agricultural sector in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven,
Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson
Counties. CCPCUA and associated rules were created in May, 2001 to help manage water resources
within the 15 county area (General Statue 143-21 5-22H). Because limited information was available
on agricultural water use, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was
requested to collect information from farmers who withdraw 10,000 to 100,000 gallons in any one day.
Individual responses remain confidential and are only used in combination with other reports to produce
county totals.
Farmers who use over 1 00,000 gallons in any one day are required to report their water usage directly to
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Data for 2007 was furnished by DENR
and are summarized on the last page of this report.
Of the farms surveyed in the 15 county area, 229 withdrew between 10,000 and 100,000 gallons of water
in any one day in 2007 compared with 148 farms in 2006. Substantial drought began in May and continued
throughout 2007, dramatically increasing water usage over 2006. However, average and maximum daily
water use remained well below the daily withdrawal capacity. July was the largest water use month in 2007,
averaging 40.0 million gallons daily, with a maximum daily withdrawal of 47.8 million gallons. June was the
largest water use month in 2006, averaging 15.1 million gallons daily, with a maximum daily withdrawal of
16.3 million gallons. July was the largest water use month in 2002 (the year of the most recent substantial
drought), averaging 42.6 million gallons daily, with a maximum daily withdrawal of 81 .3 million gallons. The
annual average daily water uses for 2007, 2006 and 2002 respectively are 1 4.3 million, 6.7 million and 1 6.1
million gallons. The daily withdrawal capacity for the 229 operations totals 1 10.2 million, 50.4 million and
102.3 million gallons in 2007,2006 and 2002 respectively.
Contractors in the region were contacted by email and phone. In addition, a questionnaire was mailed to
operations which had previously reported, or had potential for, large water usage in the 15 county area.
Operations that did not respond were contacted by telephone follow-up. For non-responses and refusals,
the size and type of each operation was reviewed in order to estimate the farm’s approximate water usage.
The total number of operations by type, as well as the monthly total across operations for average and
maximum daily water use was summarized in each county. The average daily water use for all operations
was summed for each month. The resulting annual average of these monthly totals is also published. The
type of operations will not add to the total in all counties, because some operations had irrigated cropland
and livestock. The daily withdrawal capacity is the potential amount of ground and/or surface water that
could be utilized in a 24-hour period. The published capacity represents the sum of capacities for all
reporting operations in that county. 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.
