Water Use in Maryland A Workplan to Advance Water Use Science 2017-2020 12 September 2016 (Revised October 25, 2016) Final Report Prepared for the Maryland Department of the Environment By Stuart S. Schwartz, PhD. Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education University of Maryland Baltimore County Page 2 of 52 Abstract Authority to manage Maryland’s water is vested in the Maryland Department of the Environment under Title 5 of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Joint location of quantity, quality and sanitary surveys for drinking water systems within the Department’s Water Supply Program empowers MDE to coordinate systematic sustainable use and development of the State’s water resources. This workplan reviews and identifies the needs and priorities identified for Maryland’s Water Supply Program and lays out a workplan to improve the accuracy and utility of water use data in the State that will also help the USGS improve its water use information. This workplan is informed by a review of the current status of the water use program, the challenges and needs identified from water use stakeholders within the state, and the long-term vision of evolving the state permit and management program into a water use information system with the capacity to support statutory and regulatory functions in permitting, management, and enforcement, as well as long-term sustainable resource tracking, planning, and management, for the citizens of Maryland. The workplan is structured to advance two separable but complementary broad goals: improving water use data management, and improving the accuracy of Maryland’s water use information. Page 3 of 52 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Background/Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 2. Description of the Maryland Water Supply Program ........................................................................... 9 3. Maryland Water Use Priorities ........................................................................................................... 15 3.1. Collaborative Stakeholder Input Informed Workplan development ................................................ 15 3.2. Water Use Data Model ..................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Improved Water Use Estimation Methods ........................................................................................ 19 4. Proposed Approaches to Advance Maryland Priorities to Improve Water Use Data ............................. 23 Acronyms and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 29 References ................................................................................................................................................... 30 Appendix 1 Water Use Data Models .......................................................................................................... 33 Appendix 2 EIOLCA models ...................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix 3 Well-Aquifer Association ....................................................................................................... 40 Appendix 4 NWIS Maryland Aquifer Codes .............................................................................................. 41 Appendix 5 Maryland Water Use Appropriation Permits ........................................................................... 47 Page 4 of 52 Executive Summary The Maryland Department of the Environment Water Supply Program's policies and regulatory decisions for managing the State's water resources are informed by water use data. The Water Supply Program provides water use data to the USGS on a regular basis. It is of paramount importance for both the Water Supply Program and the USGS to have accurate and reliable water use data so that the State's water resources are managed for the public good which includes ensuring their wise use and sustainability without jeopardizing the State's natural resources. Having accurate and readily accessible water use data is ever important in light of growing demands for water and the impact of climate change on sea level and the hydrologic cycle. This document describes Maryland’s priorities for a workplan to improve the collection, estimation and management of water use data for the State of Maryland. Maryland’s proposed Water Use Workplan has been structured to advance State and Federal interests in the Maryland Water Use Program during the period 2017-2020. The workplan reflects Maryland’s priorities for improved data collection and management, as well as USGS priorities for improved water use information to support the National Water Use Information Program. The workplan: Describes Maryland’s water use program; Outlines the State’s priorities for improving water use data in Maryland; and Identifies the steps proposed to address each priority, considering USGS baseline standards for water use data. The workplan reflects plans and priorities for near-term incremental improvement in water use information, building on the current state of water use data in Maryland. The workplan also reflects USGS priorities for the National Water Use Information Program that were identified through stakeholder meetings sponsored by the Interstate Council on Water Policy (ICWP). For FFY17 these National priorities include: Improved data collection, quality assurance, and delivery Improved data for irrigation: sources of withdrawals, volumes, and consumptive use (includes irrigation for agriculture and golf courses) Improved estimation of public supply deliveries to customer groups or classes, such as commercial, industrial, and domestic. This workplan reflects State priorities for regulatory and resource management, as well as workplan requirements identified by the USGS Water Use Data and Research Program (WUDR). USGS workplan requirements included: 1. A description of the current State water use program. 2. An outline of State priorities for improving water use data. 3. The steps proposed to address priorities. 4. A description of the collaboration that was part of the Workplan development, or WUDR funding. 5. A description of additional tasks and products that were proposed in the Application for the 2015 WUDR cooperative agreements The workplan identified strategic priorities addressing two major themes: Page 5 of 52 1. advancing data management; and 2. improvements in the collection and accuracy of primary and secondary data to improve water use estimates and the information that supports the USGS WURD program. The outline of water use priorities and the steps proposed to achieve these priorities is summarized in Table ES-1. Page 6 of 52 Table ES-1 Maryland Water Use Workplan: Priorities & Approach Priority Proposed Approach Improve household estimation Analyze small CWS daily MOR production data Update “bottoms up” – indoor water use Stratify on socioeconomic, regional and hydrogeologic Estimate separable outdoor water use attributes Update residential use against WRF 2016 23-city study Improve Domestic Self Supply Values Reevaluate structure and variability in per capita water Improved per capita, modified by aquifer use from small CWS. yield Identify “natural” (regional, economic) clusters of Stratify by socioeconomic indicators homogenous household water use behavior Revise DSS per capita by region, socioeconomics, aquifer etc. Irrigation (reasonable checks and validation) Analyze validation alternatives for reported irrigation Estimation methods – crop need models (e.g. crop needs model, DE irrigation Compare to DE real-time guidance recommendations Peak, seasonal disaggregation Compare to Ag. Census and FRIS estimates Evaluate Domestic Self Supply Cumulative Automate DSS aquifer assignment (Model Builder) Aquifer Withdrawals from AIS and Well Database Well location and aquifer assignment Stratify confidence by estimated error. Tiered hierarchical analysis Verify random samples within each error strata and iteratively revise assignment rules to target manual well-log verification efforts Data Systems Management & Upgrades Added canned reports for pumpage by stream, aquifer, Clean up tasks use, use category, basin and range of grid locations Provide support additional data storage and Add support for pumpage by day and by well or well management field Online permittee submittals?? How to ensure Deploy capacity for direct user entry of pumpage chain of custody w/o paper record Fix current deficiencies in entry of use percentages and fresh and salt water determination. Automate Data QA/QC Screen and test “reasonableness” checks by sector (e.g. weather sensitivity of irrigation) and between years Checks with permit applications, economic activity, etc. Design & Develop Prototype Water Use Data Design Maryland WUDM (after NEWUD, NJWaTr) Model (WUDM). Prototype WUDM by logical joins of feature class tables. Join by permit number, other? Water Use Data Model Proof-of-concept Proof of concept