U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey

Estimated Use of Water 

in South Dakota,1995

By Franklin D. Amundson

Open-File Report 98-268

Prepared in cooperation with the South Dakota Department 

of Environment and Natural Resources
U.S. Department of the Interior

Bruce Babbitt, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Thomas J. Casadevall, Acting Director

Rapid City, South Dakota: 1998

For additional information write to:

District Chief 

U.S. Geological Survey 

1608 Mt. View Road 

Rapid City, SD 57702

Copies of this report can be purchased from:

U.S. Geological Survey 

Branch of Information Services 

Box 25286 

Denver, CO 80225-0286
CONTENTS

Abstract.................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Purpose........................................................................................................................................................................ 1

Terminology................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Data-collection techniques .................................................................................................................................................... 2

Total withdrawals................................................................................................................^ 2

Offstream use......................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Public supply ............................................................................................................................................................... 2

Domestic and commercial........................................................................................................................................... 9

Irrigation.........................................................................................................................^ 9

Livestock ...................................................................................................................................................................^ 9

Industrial and mining................................................................................................................................................... 9

Thermoelectric power.................................................................................................................................................. 17

Instream use........................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Hydroelectric power.................................................................................................................................................... 17

Consumptive use.................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Reservoir evaporation.................................................................................................................................................. 18

Summary........................................................................................................................................................................^ 18

Selected references ................................................................................................................^^ 18

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Map showing total water withdrawals by county during 1995................................................................................... 4

2. Pie diagram showing total water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995......................................... 5

3. Pie diagram showing ground-water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995 .................................... 5

4. Pie diagram showing surface-water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995 .................................... 6

TABLES

1. Total population and water withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995 ........................................................... 3

2. Estimated population and public-supply withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995 ...................................... 6

3. Estimated public-supply deliveries by use and by county in South Dakota, 1995 ................................................. 8

4. Estimated public-supply domestic water deliveries by county in South Dakota, 1995.......................................... 10

5. Estimated self-supplied domestic water withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995 ....................................... 11

6. Estimated commercial water use by county in South Dakota, 1995....................................................................... 12

7. Estimated irrigation withdrawals and acreage irrigated by county in South Dakota, 1995.................................... 13

8. Estimated livestock water use by county in South Dakota, 1995 ........................................................................... 15

9. Estimated industrial water use by county in South Dakota, 1995........................................................................... 16

10. Estimated mining water use by county in South Dakota, 1995 .............................................................................. 16

11. Estimated total thermoelectric power water use by county in South Dakota, 1995................................................ 17

12. Estimated fossil fuel thermoelectric power water use by county in South Dakota, 1995....................................... 17

13. Estimated geothermal thermoelectric power water use by county in South Dakota, 1995..................................... 17

14. Estimated hydroelectric power water use by county in South Dakota, 1995.......................................................... 17

15. Reservoir evaporation water use by hydrologic unit in South Dakota, 1995.......................................................... 18

Contents III
Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995

By Franklin D. Amundson

ABSTRACT

During 1995, the total amount of water 

withdrawn from ground- and surface-water 

sources in South Dakota was about 460 Mgal/d 

(million gallons per day). Of this amount, about 

187 Mgal/d, or 41 percent of the total, was withdrawn from ground water. Surface-water withdrawals were about 273 Mgal/d, or 59 percent of 

the total.

Total withdrawals for eight categories of 

offstream use in South Dakota during 1995 were 

compiled. The withdrawals include: 88.4 Mgal/d 

for public supply; 9.4 Mgal/d for domestic; 

10.1 Mgal/d for commercial; 268.5 Mgal/d for 

irrigation; 45.9 Mgal/d for livestock; 5.1 Mgal/d 

for industrial; 27.3 Mgal/d for mining; and 

5.3 Mgal/d for thermoelectric power.

Water use for hydroelectric power, the only 

instream use compiled in this report, was about 

62,400 Mgal/d to generate about 6,420 gigawatthours of electricity during 1995. Reservoir evaporation, the only consumptive use reported in this 

report, was about 1,561,000 acre-feet from about 

560,000 reservoir surface acres during 1995.

INTRODUCTION

Our Nation's social and economic development 

has depended on and will continue to depend on the 

availability of usable water. In 1950, the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) began publishing wateruse data on a national level every 5 years to assist in the 

wise management of our Nation's water resources. The 

USGS currently collects water-use data for the

following categories: public supply, domestic, commercial, irrigation, livestock, animal specialties, industrial, mining, thermoelectric power, hydroelectric 

power, reservoir evaporation, and waste water returns.

In 1977, Congress authorized the National 

Water-Use Information Program. The program 

encourages the USGS and a State-level agency in each 

of the 50 states to cooperate in the collection and 

dissemination of water-use data. In South Dakota, the 

USGS and the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDDENR), Water Rights 

Program, are cooperators in this effort. Data contained 

in this report were collected and compiled through the 

cooperative program.

Purpose

This report presents 10 categories of freshwater 

withdrawal estimates for South Dakota by source and 

category during 1995. Withdrawal source is either 

ground water or surface water. The withdrawal data 

are aggregated by county except for reservoir evaporation, which is aggregated by hydrologic unit code 

(HUC). In this report, a hydrologic unit is a geographic 

area representing part or all of a surface drainage basin 

or distinct hydrologic feature as delineated by the 

USGS Office of Water Data Coordination on the State 

Hydrologic Unit Maps. Each hydrologic unit is 

identified by a unique numeric hydrologic unit code 

consisting of an 8-digit number.

Terminology

In this report, the term "offstream use" represents all water diverted or withdrawn from a surface- or 

ground-water source and conveyed to a place of use.

Introduction 1
"Instream use" refers to all uses taking place within the 

river channel itself. "Consumptive use" refers to water 

that is evaporated.

DATA-COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

The permitted irrigators in South Dakota are 

required to annually report to the SDDENR the amount 

of water applied and acres irrigated. The reported data 

are compiled by the SDDENR and provided to the 

USGS on a computer disc. The USGS then reformats 

these data and downloads the data to a Site-Specific 

Water-Use Data System (SWUDS).

In 1995, SDDENR mailed out a one-page wateruse questionnaire to each permitted water user for other 

water-use categories, requesting total withdrawals and 

the source(s) of withdrawals. The completed questionnaires were sent directly to the USGS where they were 

compiled and entered into SWUDS. Telephone 

requests were made to the rural water systems and to 

the 20 largest municipalities requesting annual withdrawals; sources; and deliveries to commercial, industrial, and residential users. All of the SWUDS data 

were then aggregated by water-use category and by 

county or HUC and stored in the U.S. Geological 

Survey's Aggregated Water-Use Data System 

(AWUDS).

TOTAL WITHDRAWALS

During 1995, total withdrawals from groundand surface-water sources in South Dakota were about 

460 Mgal/d (million gallons per day) (table 1). Total 

withdrawals by county are shown in figure 1, and total 

withdrawals by category of use are shown in figure 2. 

Of this total, about 187 Mgal/d, or 41 percent of the 

total, was withdrawn from ground water (table 1). 

Ground-water withdrawals by category of use are 

shown in figure 3. Surface-water withdrawals were 

about 273 Mgal/d, or 59 percent of the total withdrawals (table 1). Surface-water withdrawals by 

category of use are shown in figure 4. Butte County 

had the largest withdrawals, with about 88.6 Mgal/d, 

followed by Fall River County with about 37.6 Mgal/d 

(table 1).

OFFSTREAM USE

Water-use information was compiled for eight 

categories of off stream use during 1995. The eight 

categories are public supply, domestic, commercial, 

irrigation, livestock, industrial, mining, and thermoelectric power.

Public Supply

Public supply refers to water withdrawn by 

public or private water suppliers and delivered to 

multiple users for domestic, commercial, industrial, 

and thermoelectric power uses. Public supply includes 

public and private water systems that furnish water to 

at least 25 people, or have a minimum of 15 service 

connections.

Public-supply facilities in South Dakota withdrew an estimated 88.4 Mgal/d during 1995 (table 2). 

About 60 percent of these withdrawals, or about 

53.4 Mgal/d, was from ground water. Surface-water 

withdrawals were about 34.9 Mgal/d (table 2). Total 

public-supply withdrawals averaged about 147 gallons 

per day for each person served.

The population served by public-supply systems 

increased from 550,000 during 1990 (Solley and 

others, 1993, p. 25) to about 602,000 during 1995. It is 

estimated that about 382,000 people were served by 

public-supply systems withdrawing from ground-water 

sources, while about 220,000 people were served by 

public-supply systems withdrawing from surfacewater sources. The increase in population served by 

public-supply systems from 1990 to 1995 can be attributed to the continued increase in the number of rural 

customers and towns served by rural water systems.

There are 27 regional rural water systems operating in South Dakota and several other regional 

systems either under construction or being planned. 

Many of these regional rural water systems make withdrawals from one location and deliver the water over a 

large geographic area that my include several counties 

and/or HUC's. The largest withdrawal by a rural water 

system was 3.72 Mgal/d by the WEB Water Development Association, Inc., which delivers water to rural 

customers and towns within 14 counties in northeastern 

South Dakota.

Deliveries by public suppliers for domestic, 

commercial, and industrial use were about 81 Mgal/d. 

About 52 Mgal/d, or 64 percent of the deliveries, was 

for domestic use (table 3).

Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Table 1. Total population and water withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes 

Hutchinson 

Hyde

Population, 

in 

thousands

3.09

18.14

3.31

7.01

26.45

35.73

5.63

1.83

8.90

1.88

9.48

4.38

13.61

24.83

4.26

6.68

17.82

6.71

4.45

5.78

3.62

4.34

7.09

2.59

8.24

5.11

2.55

5.37

4.20

2.94

1.54

15.54 

8.02 

1.68

Water withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

Ground 

water

0.35

5.25

6.76

1.98

6.10

4.44

1.50

0.87

2.95

1.38

2.69

2.32

4.03

6.97

0.70

1.14

1.21

0.84

0.77

0.55

1.27

1.23

1.48

0.30

3.02

0.80

1.09

2.45

1.03

0.24

0.46

5.17 

1.82 

0.69

Surface 

water

0.43

4.07

0.31

2.41

0.55

4.00

2.49

2.34

85.68

1.34

7.95

0.54

0.48

4.13

1.30

3.06

2.79

0.39

0.36

1.24

0.38

0.47

36.08

0.42

2.59

1.31

1.03

0.25

0.68

0.64

0.72

16.50 

0.84 

0.69

Total

0.78

9.32

7.07

4.39

6.65

8.44

3.99

3.21

88.63

2.72

10.64

2.86

4.51

11.10

2.00

4.20

4.00

1.23

1.13

1.79

1.65

1.70

37.56

0.72

5.61

2.11

2.12

2.70

1.71

0.88

1.18

21.67 

2.66 

1.38

County

Jackson

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanbom

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Wal worth

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Population, 

in 

thousands

2.87

2.34

1.32

5.74

10.80

22.45

17.67

3.78

5.82

3.04

4.71

23.08

2.00

3.06

135.64

6.62

87.30

3.70

2.99

9.95

2.80

11.68

7.84

2.82

1.57

9.10

6.90

8.60

11.22

5.83

20.75

2.22

729.01

Water withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

Ground 

water

0.52

0.74

0.21

2.82

1.36

4.41

2.27

0.62

1.03

0.72

1.05

2.84

0.39

0.36

14.96

1.54

16.91

0.68

1.26

1.20

0.43

0.95

7.66

0.62

2.55

7.78

2.82

14.30

15.20

0.61

4.30

0.35

187.31

Surface 

water

1.46

0.46

0.78

0.42

2.03

10.42

0.52

4.42

0.47

1.17

0.55

2.36

0.70

0.35

9.90

0.62

13.24

0.82

2.54

0.42

0.36

0.20

0.80

1.88

10.33

0.56

2.30

0.81

0.83

5.85

6.22

0.46

272.71

Total

1.98

1.20

0.99

3.24

3.39

14.83

2.79

5.04

1.50

1.89

1.60

5.20

1.09

0.71

24.86

2.16

30.15

1.50

3.80

1.62

0.79

1.15

8.46

2.50

12.88

8.34

5.12

15.11

16.03

6.46

10.52

0.81

460.02

Off stream Use
104" 103"

s3p^

55'CO

D o>ST

102°

101 100" 99° 98° 97°

45

EXPLANATION

WATER USE--Number indicates withdrawal 

in million gallons per day (Mgal/d)

I I 2-5 t^B >20

20 40 60 MILES (,

I I I I I

0 20 40 60 KILOMETERS

Figure 1. Total water withdrawals by county during 1995.
Mining

27.3 Mgal/d

6%

Other Categories 

29.9 Mgal/d

7%

Public Supply

88.4 Mgal/d

19%

Livestock

45.9 Mgal/d

10%

Irrigation 

268.5 Mgal/d

58% 

Figure 2. Total water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995, in million gallons per day and percent.

Other Categories

30.7 Mgal/d

16% Public Supply

53.4 Mgal/d

29%

Livestock

18.4 Mgal/d

10%

Irrigation 

84.8 Mgal/d

45% 

Figure 3. Ground-water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995, in million gallons per day and percent.

Offstream Use
Livestock

27.6 Mgal/d

10%

Other Categories

26.5 Mgal/d

10%

Public Supply

34.9 Mgal/d

13%

Irrigation

183.7 Mgal/d

67%

Figure 4. Surface-water withdrawals in South Dakota by category during 1995, in million gallons per day and percent.

Table 2. Estimated population and public-supply withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995

Population served, in thousends

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Source

Ground 

water

0.60

3.06

1.18

1.15

26.36

0.66

0.00

0.00

3.06

0.11

0.10

4.38

12.84

23.70

1.26

2.58

3.54

1.60

4.45

0.83

0.21

Surface 

weter

2.49

10.74

0.00

5.86

0.00

34.31

5.63

0.12

4.72

1.77

9.38

0.00

0.21

0.00

0.00

0.00

13.93

2.67

0.00

2.01

3.41

Total

3.09

13.80

1.18

7.01

26.36

34.97

5.63

0.12

7.78

1.88

9.48

4.38

13.05

23.70

1.26

2.58

17.47

4.27

4.45

2.84

3.62

Water withdrawals1 , in million gallons per day

Source

Ground 

weter

0.06

0.45

0.05

0.36

3.86

0.37

0.00

0.00

0.67

0.06

0.16

0.88

1.65

3.14

0.18

0.44

0.04

0.01

0.18

0.09

0.02

Surfece 

water

0.00

2.36

0.00

0.20

0.00

3.03

1.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.07

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.53

0.00

0.00

0.75

0.00

Total

0.06

2.81

0.05

0.56

3.86

3.40

1.00

0.00

0.67

0.06

2.23

0.88

1.65

3.14

0.18

0.44

2.57

0.01

0.18

0.84

0.02

Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Table 2. Estimated population and public-supply withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995 Continued

Population served, in thousands

County

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes

Hutchinson

Hyde

Jackson

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Walworth

Yankton

Ziebach

Total

Source

Ground

water

0.00

5.14

0.09

3.74

5.11

0.80

5.37

2.16

2.85

0.58

14.11

2.09

0.80

1.17

0.33

0.12

5.74

10.80

0.16

17.31

0.79

5.82

0.27

3.30

5.52

1.29

3.06

73.82

6.62

68.37

1.98

1.14

9.80

1.23

0.14

0.22

2.03

0.83

1.70

6.90

7.96

9.25

0.20

0.00

0.00

382.38

Surface

water

4.22

0.00

2.50

3.79

0.00

1.03

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.34

0.00

0.00

1.07

0.67

0.00

0.00

14.35

0.36

1.32

0.00

2.34

0.38

1.16

0.00

0.00

52.40

0.00

2.88

0.00

1.46

0.00

0.00

0.00

7.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.63

15.87

1.84

219.86

Total

4.22

5.14

2.59

7.53

5.11

1.83

5.37

2.16

2.85

0.58

14.11

4.43

0.80

1.17

1.40

0.79

5.74

10.80

14.51

17.67

2.11

5.82

2.61

3.67

6.68

1.29

3.06

126.22

6.62

71.25

1.98

2.59

9.80

1.23

0.14

7.22

2.03

0.83

1.70

6.90

7.96

9.25

5.83

15.87

1.84

602.22

Water withdrawals 1 , in million gallons per day

Source

Ground

water

0.07

0.67

0.03

0.04

0.40

0.02

0.18

0.25

0.00

0.03

2.74

0.29

0.06

0.11

0.02

0.01

1.78

0.79

0.00

1.52

0.06

0.75

0.08

0.51

0.61

0.04

0.12

11.30

1.01

11.82

0.19

0.35

0.59

0.06

0.01

0.11

0.33

0.06

0.11

1.49

1.08

1.00

0.03

0.04

0.00

53.43

Surface

water

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.49

0.00

0.22

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.11

0.00

0.00

4.09

0.00

0.19

0.00

0.00

0.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

8.83

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.24

4.64

0.00

34.94

Total

0.07

0.67

0.03

0.53

0.40

0.24

0.18

0.25

0.00

0.03

2.74

0.29

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.12

1.78

0.79

4.09

1.52

0.25

0.75

0.08

0.56

0.61

0.04

0.12

20.13

1.01

11.82

0.19

0.35

0.59

0.06

0.01

0.11

0.33

0.06

0.11

1.49

1.08

1.00

4.27

4.68

0.00

88.37

May include withdrawals by rural water systems that make deliveries to other counties.

Offstream Use
Table 3. Estimated public-supply deliveries by use and by county in South Dakota, 1995

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes 

Hutchinson 

Hyde

Water deliveries, by type of use, 

in million gallons per day

Domestic

0.24

1.04

0.08

0.76

1.39

2.49

0.56

0.01

0.82

0.24

1.09

0.58

0.79

2.05

0.11

0.29

1.89

0.32

0.53

0.37

0.37

0.38

0.60

0.25

0.54

0.46

0.09

0.43

0.15

0.35

0.03

1.62 

0.43 

0.06

Commercial

0.00

0.54

0.37

0.14

1.12

1.80

0.27

0.00

0.16

0.00

0.19

0.19

0.46

0.67

0.09

0.00

0.63

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.07

0.00

0.12

0.16

0.09

0.02

0.12

0.00

0.00

0.72 

0.05 

0.00

Industrial

0.00

0.95

0.00

0.00

0.15

0.82

0.00

0.00

0.08

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.06

0.27

0.00

0.00

0.25

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.05

0.00

0.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.40 

0.00 

0.00

Total 

deliveries

0.24

2.53

0.45

0.90

2.66

5.11

0.83

0.01

1.06

0.24

1.28

0.77

1.31

2.99

0.20

0.29

2.77

0.32

0.53

0.37

0.39

0.42

0.67

0.25

0.71

0.62

0.23

0.45

0.27

0.35

0.03

2.74 

0.48 

0.06

County

Jackson

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Wal worth

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Water deliveries, by type of use, 

in million gallons per day

Domestic

0.06

0.10

0.12

0.81

1.06

1.47

1.33

0.19

0.49

0.18

0.29

0.63

0.12

0.22

9.75

0.68

6.23

0.15

0.23

1.55

0.04

0.01

0.55

0.14

0.06

0.14

0.61

0.61

0.65

0.46

1.88

0.13

52.35

Commercial

0.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.04

0.77

0.00

0.00

0.12

0.00

0.07

0.08

0.00

0.03

5.52

0.15

3.82

0.04

0.12

0.23

0.00

0.00

0.10

0.19

0.00

0.00

0.01

0.16

0.48

0.26

0.79

0.00

21.07

Industrial

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.27

0.93

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.50

0.00

0.81

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.00

7.90

Total 

deliveries

0.11

0.10

0.12

0.81

1.37

3.17

1.33

0.19

0.61

0.18

0.36

0.71

0.12

0.25

17.77

0.83

10.86

0.19

0.35

1.78

0.04

0.01

0.65

0.33

0.06

0.14

0.63

0.77

1.13

0.82

2.87

0.13

81.32

8 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Domestic and Commercial

Domestic water use includes water for household purposes, such as drinking, food preparation, 

bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, 

car washing, and watering lawns and gardens. Commercial water use includes water used by commercial 

facilities such as hotels, motels, restaurants, office 

buildings, government and military facilities, educational institutions, and retail sales stores. Domestic and 

commercial water users obtain water from both publicsupply and self-supplied facilities.

Domestic water use during 1995 was about 

62 Mgal/d. Of this total, about 52.4 Mgal/d was 

delivered from public-supply systems serving about 

602,000 people (table 4). Per capita domestic use was 

about 87 gal/d (gallons/day) for public-supplied users. 

Self-supplied withdrawals were 9.36 Mgal/d, of which 

9.34 Mgal/d was from ground water (table 5). The 

population served by self-supplied facilities during 

1995 was about 127,000, and per capita use was about 

74 gal/d.

Commercial water use during 1995 was about 

31 Mgal/d, of which about 21.1 Mgal/d was delivered 

by public-supply systems and about 10.1 Mgal/d was 

from self-supplied systems (table 6). Of the selfsupplied total, 6.05 Mgal/d was withdrawn from 

ground water and 4.05 Mgal/d from surface water.

Irrigation

Irrigation water use includes all water artificially 

applied to farms, orchards, and horticulture crops. 

Because irrigation is the largest offstream use of water 

in South Dakota, the quantity of water used by the 

holder of an irrigation permit must be reported annually to the SDDENR. The irrigation data provided in 

this report are based on the 1995 SDDENR irrigation 

questionnaires.

Irrigation withdrawals during 1995 totaled about 

268.5 Mgal/d (table 7). This is a decrease from 1990 

withdrawals, which totaled 392 Mgal/d (Solley and 

others, 1993, p. 37). Of the total withdrawals for 

irrigation, about 184 Mgal/d was from surface-water 

sources and about 85 Mgal/d was from ground-water 

sources. The largest withdrawals were about 

86.1 Mgal/d in Butte County and about 35.2 Mgal/d in 

Fall River County, which both have large Bureau of 

Reclamation projects located in them. An estimated 

301,480 acres were irrigated during 1995 224,920

acres by sprinkler application and 76,560 acres by 

surface (or flood) application. This is a decrease from 

1990 irrigated acres, which totaled 396,000 acres, 

287,000 by sprinkler application and 109,000 by 

surface (or flood) application (Solley and others, 1993). 

This decrease in irrigated acres can be attributed to 

above-normal precipitation during 1991-95.

Livestock

Livestock water use is that used in the production of meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and wool. It does not 

include rural-domestic water use, irrigation water use, 

or other farm needs such as lawn and garden watering. 

Total livestock water use during 1995 was about 

45.9 Mgal/d (table 8). Of this total, about 27.6 Mgal/d 

was from surface water and about 18.4 Mgal/d was 

from ground water. The largest withdrawals were 

1.32 Mgal/d in Tripp County and 1.30 Mgal/d in 

Charles Mix County (table 8). Total livestock water 

use was distributed among 3,777,822 cattle, 1,978,197 

hogs, 661,872 sheep, 37,475 horses, and 2,136,682 

poultry (South Dakota Agriculture Statistic Service, 

1995, p. 121-127).

Industrial and Mining

Industrial water use includes water used to manufacture products. Mining water use includes water 

withdrawn for the extraction of minerals: solids (such 

as gold, coal, and ores), liquids (such as crude petroleum), and gases (such as natural gas). It also includes 

quarrying, gravel pits, dewatering, milling (crushing, 

screening, washing, floatation, etc.), and other preparations customarily done at mine sites, or as part of a mining activity.

Industrial water use during 1995 was about 

13 Mgal/d (table 9). Of this total, about 5.1 Mgal/d 

was self supplied (4.14 Mgal/d from ground water and 

0.97 Mgal/d from surface water); the remainder of 

7.90 Mgal/d was provided from public-supply systems. 

Mining water use during 1995 was all self supplied and 

was about 27.3 Mgal/d, with about 7.8 Mgal/d withdrawn from ground water and about 19.5 Mgal/d 

withdrawn from surface water (table 10).

Offstream Use
Table 4. Estimated public-supply domestic water deliveries by county in South Dakota, 1995

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes 

Hutchinson 

Hyde

Publicsupplied 

population, 

in thousands

3.09

13.80

1.18

7.01

26.36

34.97

5.63

0.12

7.78

1.88

9.48

4.38

13.05

23.70

1.26

2.58

17.47

4.27

4.45

2.84

3.62

4.22

5.14

2.59

7.53

5.11

1.83

5.37

2.16

2.85

0.58

14.11 

4.43 

0.80

Public-supply 

deliveries, 

in million 

gallons 

per day

0.24

1.04

0.08

0.76

1.39

2.49

0.56

0.01

0.82

0.24

1.09

0.58

0.79

2.05

0.11

0.29

1.89

0.32

0.53

0.37

0.37

0.38

0.60

0.25

0.54

0.46

0.09

0.43

0.15

0.35

0.03

1.62 

0.43 

0.06

Per capita 

use, 

in gallons 

per day

77.67

75.36

67.80

108.42

52.73

71.20

99.41

83.33

105.40

127.66

114.98

132.42

60.54

86.50

87.30

112.40

108.19

74.94

119.13

130.28

102.21

90.05

116.73

96.53

71.71

90.02

49.18

80.07

69.48

122.81

51.72

114.81 

97.07 

74.91

County

Jackson

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Walworth

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Publicsupplied 

population, 

in thousands

1.17

1.40

0.79

5.74

10.80

14.51

17.67

2.11

5.82

2.61

3.67

6.68

1.29

3.06

126.22

6.62

71.25

1.98

2.59

9.80

1.23

0.14

7.22

2.03

0.83

1.70

6.90

7.96

9.25

5.83

15.87

1.84

602.22

Public-supply 

deliveries, 

in million 

gallons 

per day

0.06

0.10

0.12

0.81

1.06

1.47

1.33

0.19

0.49

0.18

0.29

0.63

0.12

0.22

9.75

0.68

6.23

0.15

0.23

1.55

0.04

0.01

0.55

0.14

0.06

0.14

0.61

0.61

0.65

0.46

1.88

0.13

52.35

Per capita 

use, 

in gallons 

per day

51.41

71.33

151.71

141.02

98.15

101.31

75.27

90.13

84.13

68.97

78.98

94.31

93.02

71.90

77.25

102.72

87.44

75.76

88.73

158.16

32.52

71.43

76.18

68.97

72.29

82.16

88.41

76.63

70.27

78.90

118.46

70.65

1 86.93

Average computed by dividing total deliveries by total population.

10 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Table 5. Estimated self-supplied domestic water withdrawals by county in South Dakota, 1995

County

Beadle

Bennett

Brookings

Brown

Buffalo

Butte

Charles Mix

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Dewey

Edmunds

Fall River

Grant

Haakon

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes

Hutchinson 

Hyde 

Jackson

Selfsupplied 

population, 

in thousands

4.34

2.13

0.09

0.76

1.71

1.12

0.00

0.56

1.13

3.00

4.10

0.35

2.44

2.94

0.12

1.95

0.71

0.72

2.04

0.09

0.96

1.43

3.59 

0.88 

1.70

Self-supplied water 

withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

Ground 

water

0.30

0.15

0.01

0.07

0.12

0.09

0.01

0.04

0.10

0.21

0.29

0.05

0.17

0.21

0.01

0.14

0.05

0.05

0.14

0.01

0.08

0.10

0.27 

0.06 

0.12

Surface 

water

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 

0.00 

0.00

Total

0.30

0.15

0.01

0.07

0.12

0.09

0.01

0.04

0.10

0.21

0.29

0.05

0.17

0.21

0.01

0.14

0.05

0.05

0.14

0.01

0.08

0.10

0.27 

0.06 

0.12

Per 

capita 

use, 

in 

gallons 

per day

69.12

70.42

111.11

92.11

70.18

80.36

0.00

71.43

88.50

70.00

70.73

142.86

69.67

71.43

83.33

71.79

70.42

69.44

68.59

111.11

83.33

69.93

75.21 

68.26 

70.46

County

Jerauld

Jones

Lawrence

Lyman

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Minnehaha

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Turner

Union

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Selfsupplied 

population, 

in thousands

0.94

0.53

7.94

1.67

0.43

1.04

16.40

0.71

9.42

16.05

1.72

0.40

0.15

1.57

11.54

0.62

0.79

0.74

7.40

0.64

1.97

4.88

0.38

126.79

Self-supplied water 

withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

Ground 

water

0.07

0.04

0.56

0.12

0.03

0.07

1.23

0.05

0.67

1.28

0.12

0.04

0.01

0.13

0.81

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.52

0.05

0.17

0.34

0.03

9.34

Surface 

water

0.00

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.02

Total

0.07

0.04

0.57

0.12

0.03

0.07

1.23

0.05

0.67

1.29

0.12

0.04

0.01

0.13

0.81

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.52

0.05

0.17

0.34

0.03

9.36

Per 

capita 

use, 

in 

gallons 

per day

74.63

75.61

71.79

71.77

69.77

67.44

75.00

70.42

71.13

80.37

69.77

100.50

66.67

82.80

70.19

80.65

63.29

67.57

70.31

78.13

86.29

69.67

78.95

! 73.82

'Average computed by dividing total withdrawals by total population.

Offstream Use 11
Table 6. Estimated commercial water use by county in South Dakota, 1995

Self-supplied water 

withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Butte

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Harding 

Hughes 

Hutchinson

Ground 

water

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.08

0.00

0.11

1.07

0.97

0.00

0.04

*0.00

0.03

0.00

0.12

0.06

0.03

0.03

0.08

0.00

0.00

0.22

0.00

0.00

0.02 

0.06 

0.00

Surface 

water

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.31

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 

0.01 

0.00

Total

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.08

0.00

0.11

1.07

0.97

0.00

0.04

0.00

0.03

0.00

0.12

0.06

0.03

0.03

0.39

0.00

0.00

0.22

0.00

0.00

0.02 

0.07 

0.00

Publicsupply 

deliveries, 

in 

million 

gallons 

per day

0.00

0.54

0.37

0.14

1.12

1.80

0.27

0.16

0.19

0.19

0.46

0.67

0.09

0.00

0.63

0.02

0.04

0.07

0.12

0.16

0.09

0.02

0.12

0.00 

0.72 

0.05

Total 

use

Withdrawal 

and 

deliveries, 

in 

million

gallons 

per day

0.01

0.54

0.37

0.22

1.12

1.91

1.34

1.13

0.19

0.23

0.46

0.70

0.09

0.12

0.69

0.05

0.07

0.46

0.12

0.16

0.31

0.02

0.12

0.02 

0.79 

0.05

Self-supplied water 

withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

Source

County

Jackson

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

McCook

Marshall

Meade

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Tripp

Turner

Union

Wal worth

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Ground 

water

0.01

0.00

0.00

1.17

0.00

0.00

0.36

0.00

0.44

0.04

0.74

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.01

0.05

0.03

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.04

0.00

0.08

0.14

6.05

Surface 

water

0.00

0.03

0.00

1.68

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.03

0.34

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.62

0.03

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.05

Total

0.01

0.03

0.00

2.85

0.00

0.00

0.36

0.00

0.44

0.07

1.08

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.01

0.05

1.65

0.03

0.00

0.00

0.04

0.00

0.08

0.14

10.10

Publicsupply 

deliveries, 

in 

million 

gallons 

per day

0.05

0.00

0.04

0.77

0.12

0.07

0.08

0.03

5.52

0.15

3.82

0.04

0.12

0.23

0.00

0.10

0.19

0.00

0.01

0.16

0.48

0.26

0.79

0.00

21.07

Total 

use

Withdrawal 

and 

deliveries, 

in 

million

gallons 

per day

0.06

0.03

0.04

3.62

0.12

0.07

0.44

0.03

5.96

0.22

4.90

0.04

0.13

0.23

0.01

0.15

1.84

0.03

0.01

0.16

0.52

0.26

0.87

0.14

31.17

12 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Table 7. Estimated irrigation withdrawals and acreage irrigated by county in South Dakota, 1995

Water withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

County

Aurora

Beadle

Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes

Hutchinson

Hyde

Jackson

Jerauld

Source

Ground 

water

0.00

4.01

6.35

1.19

1.68

1.95

0.10

0.59

0.87

1.14

2.00

0.81

2.17

1.20

0.00

0.08

0.43

0.19

0.35

0.00

0.97

0.16

0.14

0.00

0.98

0.07

0.00

2.10

0.21

0.05

0.00

2.00

0.80

0.18

0.00

0.43

Surface 

water

0.01

0.15

0.00

1.68

0.00

0.20

0.94

2.11

85.20

1.09

5.10

0.02

0.33

0.00

0.83

1.49

0.00

0.02

0.00

0.11

0.00

0.00

35.05

0.01

0.03

0.81

0.39

0.00

0.03

0.38

0.25

16.23

0.14

0.10

1.04

0.00

Total

0.01

4.16

6.35

2.87

1.68

2.15

1.04

2.70

86.07

2.23

7.10

0.83

2.50

1.20

0.83

1.57

0.43

0.21

0.35

0.11

0.97

0.16

35.19

0.01

1.01

0.88

0.39

2.10

0.24

0.43

0.25

18.23

0.94

0.28

1.04

0.43

Irrigated land, in thousand acres

Application method

Sprinkler

0.01

9.19

6.90

6.11

7.20

3.85

1.75

2.43

11.63

2.06

10.61

1.98

7.60

3.02

0.81

0.98

0.88

0.82

1.15

0.05

1.13

0.53

4.84

0.10

3.01

1.82

0.41

4.77

0.81

0.78

0.21

13.21

2.29

0.26

0.35

0.97

Surface 

(flood)

0.00

0.35

1.03

0.38

0.57

0.13

0.19

0.37

48.40

0.20

0.90

0.05

0.25

0.25

0.05

0.57

0.01

0.01

0.02

0.01

0.05

0.02

8.70

0.00

0.12

0.14

0.17

0.31

0.03

0.00

0.10

1.00

0.04

0.00

0.35

0.05

Total

0.01

9.54

7.93

6.49

7.77

3.98

1.94

2.80

60.03

2.26

11.51

2.03

7.85

3.27

0.86

1.55

0.89

0.83

1.17

0.06

1.18

0.55

13.54

0.10

3.13

1.96

0.58

5.08

0.84

0.78

0.31

14.21

2.33

0.26

0.70

1.02

Offstream Use 13
Table 7. Estimated irrigation withdrawals and acreage irrigated by county in South Dakota, 1995 Continued

Water withdrawals, in million 

gallons per day

County

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Walworth

Yankton

Ziebach

Total

Source

Ground 

water

0.00

0.42

0.32

0.72

0.50

0.18

0.00

0.26

0.16

0.09

0.05

0.01

0.67

0.25

0.12

0.00

0.65

0.29

0.00

0.00

6.98

0.00

1.80

6.93

0.80

12.79

13.75

0.41

3.45

0.00

84.80

Surface 

water

0.43

0.00

0.03

0.31

0.14

3.91

0.05

0.19

0.03

1.64

0.32

0.00

0.35

0.22

4.36

0.32

2.23

0.00

0.01

0.01

0.09

0.04

10.08

0.23

1.51

0.24

0.49

1.36

1.20

0.19

183.72

Total

0.43

0.42

0.35

1.03

0.64

4.09

0.05

0.45

0.19

1.73

0.37

0.01

1.02

0.47

4.48

0.32

2.88

0.29

0.01

0.01

7.07

0.04

11.88

7.16

2.31

13.03

14.24

1.77

4.65

0.19

268.52

Irrigated land, in thousand acres

Application method

Sprinkler

0.43

1.30

1.27

0.72

1.16

2.27

0.03

0.89

0.74

0.73

0.32

0.00

1.87

1.44

2.27

0.45

3.35

1.37

0.03

0.00

14.01

0.05

14.56

9.06

2.73

15.07

25.05

2.15

7.03

0.05

224.92

Surface 

(flood)

0.33

0.03

0.05

0.70

0.04

0.20

0.00

0.03

0.02

0.61

0.20

0.00

0.10

0.10

2.18

0.11

0.25

0.04

0.00

0.00

0.32

0.00

2.99

1.02

0.44

0.42

1.10

0.19

0.25

0.02

76.56

Total

0.76

1.33

1.32

1.42

1.20

2.47

0.03

0.92

0.76

1.34

0.52

0.00

1.97

1.54

4.45

0.56

3.60

1.41

0.03

0.00

14.33

0.05

17.55

10.08

3.17

15.49

26.15

2.34

7.28

0.07

301.48

14 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Table 8. Estimated livestock water use by county in South Dakota, 1995

Water withdrawals, in million gallons per day

County

Aurora

Beadle

.Bennett

Bon Homme

Brookings

Brown

Brule

Buffalo

Butte

Campbell

Charles Mix

Clark

Clay

Codington

Corson

Custer

Davison

Day

Deuel

Dewey

Douglas

Edmunds

Fall River

Faulk

Grant

Gregory

Haakon

Hamlin

Hand

Hanson

Harding

Hughes 

Hutchinson 

Hyde

Source

Ground 

water

0.28

0.49

0.21

0.35

0.37

0.51

0.33

0.16

0.32

0.17

0.52

0.35

0.10

0.27

0.31

0.11

0.17

0.25

0.24

0.25

0.25

0.31

0.24

0.27

0.22

0.33

0.28

0.17

0.43

0.18

0.31

0.17 

0.46 

0.39

Surface 

water

0.42

0.74

0.31

0.53

0.55

0.77

0.55

0.23

0.48

0.25

0.78

0.52

0.15

0.40

0.47

0.17

0.26

0.37

0.36

0.38

0.38

0.47

0.36

0.41

0.34

0.50

0.42

0.25

0.65

0.26

0.47

0.26 

0.70 

0.59

Total

0.70

1.23

0.52

0.88

0.92

1.28

0.88

0.39

0.80

0.42

1.30

0.87

0.25

0.67

0.78

0.28

0.43

0.62

0.60

0.63

0.63

0.78

0.60

0.68

0.56

0.83

0.70

0.42

1.08

0.44

0.78

0.43 

1.16 

0.98

County

Jackson

Jerauld

Jones

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lincoln

Lyman

McCook

McPherson

Marshall

Meade

Mellette

Miner

Minnehaha

Moody

Pennington

Perkins

Potter

Roberts

Sanborn

Shannon

Spink

Stanley

Sully

Todd

Tripp

Turner

Union

Walworth

Yankton

Ziebach 

Total

Water withdrawals, in million gallons per day

Source

Ground 

water

0.28

0.22

0.16

0.26

0.25

0.17

0.25

0.21

0.28

0.33

0.31

0.48

0.25

0.23

0.44

0.24

0.27

0.37

0.21

0.28

0.24

0.12

0.47

0.15

0.15

0.22

0.53

0.38

0.23

0.17

0.26

0.18

18.36

Surface 

water

0.42

0.32

0.24

0.39

0.38

0.25

0.38

0.32

0.42

0.50

0.47

0.72

0.38

0.35

0.66

0.37

0.40

0.50

0.31

0.42

0.35

0.19

0.71

0.22

0.22

0.33

0.79

0.57

0.34

0.25

0.38

0.27

27.57

Total

0.70

0.54

0.40

0.65

0.63

0.42

0.63

0.53

0.70

0.83

0.78

1.20

0.63

0.58

1.10

0.61

0.67

0.87

0.52

0.70

0.59

0.31

1.18

0.37

0.37

0.55

1.32

0.95

0.57

0.42

0.64

0.45

45.93

Off stream Use 15
Table 9. Estimated industrial water use by county in South Dakota, 1995

Self-supplied water withdrawals, in million gallons per day Public-supply

Coun

Beadle

Brookings

Brown

Butte

Clark

Clay

Codington

Custer

Davison

Edmunds

Grant

Haakon

Harding

Hughes

Lake

Lawrence

Meade

Minnehaha

Pennington

Roberts

Tripp

Union

Walworth

Yankton 

Total

Table 10.

lty Source

Ground water

0.00

0.18

0.00

0.03

0.24

0.07

0.75

0.10

0.01

0.07

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.07

1.03

1.26

0.03

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.13

4.14

Surface water

0.82

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.15

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.97

Estimated mining water use by county in South Dakota,

County

Water withdrawals,

Source

Ground water

Brown

Campbell

Codington

Custer

Davison

Day

Edmunds

Fall River

Kingsbury

Lake

Lawrence

Lyman

McPherson

Minnehaha

Pennington

Sully 

Total

1.43

0.01

1.48

0.00

0.45

0.22

0.48

0.21

0.36

0.00

1.21

0.05

0.02

0.38

0.98

0.49

7.77

deliveries, 

Total in million gallons 

per day

0.82

0.18

0.00

0.03

0.24

0.07

0.75

0.10

0.01

0.07

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.07

1.03

1.41

0.03

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.13

5.11

1995

0.95

0.15

0.82

0.08

0.00

0.06

0.27

0.00

0.25

0.00

0.05

0.05

0.00

0.40

0.27

0.93

0.00

2.50

0.81

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.10

0.20

7.90

Total use

Withdrawal and 

deliveries, in million 

gallons per day

1.77

0.33

0.82

0.11

0.24

0.13

1.02

0.10

0.26

0.07

0.05

0.05

0.02

0.40

0.27

1.07

0.07

3.53

2.22

0.03

0.01

0.01

0.10

0.33

13.01

in million gallons per day, by source and type

Surface water

0.00

0.00

3.73

1.40

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.36

0.00

1.62

3.94

0.00

0.48

0.00

7.98

0.00

19.51

Total

1.43

0.01

5.21

1.40

0.45

0.22

0.48

0.57

0.36

1.62

5.15

0.05

0.50

0.38

8.96

0.49

27.28

16 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995
Thermoelectric Power

Table 13. Estimated geothermal thermoelectric power water

Thermoelectric power water use includes water

used in the production of electric power generated with

fossil-fuel, geothermal, or nuclear energy. Total water

withdrawn by thermoelectric and geothermal uses

during 1995 was about 5.3 Mgal/d, with about

3.4 Mgal/d from ground water and about 1.9 Mgal/d

from surface water (table 11). Total water withdrawn

for thermoelectric power generation by powerplants

using fossil fuel was about 4.5 Mgal/d, with about

2.6 Mgal/d from ground water and about 1 .9 Mgal/d

from surface water (table 12).

Table 11. Estimated total thermoelectric power water use

by county in South Dakota, 1 995

use oy county in i>ouin uaKoia, iyyt>

Self-supplied water withdrawals,

County

Edmunds

Haakon

Hughes

Minnehaha

Stanley

Total

in million gallons per day

Source

Ground

water

0.10

0.52

0.10

0.03

0.06

0.81

Surface

water

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Total

0.10

0.52

0.10

0.03

0.06

0.81

Self-supplied water withdrawals, 

in million gallons per day

County

Edmunds

Grant

Haakon

Hughes

Lawrence

Minnehaha

Pennington

Stanley

Total

Ground

water

0.10

1.73

0.52

0.10

0.44

0.03

0.44

0.06

3.42

Source

Surface

water

0.00

1.73

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.06f

0.00

0.00

1.93

Total

0.10

3.46

0.52

0.10

0.58

0.09

0.44

0.06

5.35

Table 12. Estimated fossil fuel thermoelectric power water 

use by county in South Dakota, 1995

Self-supplied water withdrawals, 

in million gallons per day

INSTREAM USE

The only instream use reported for South Dakota 

is for hydroelectric power generation. Instream use 

occurred in five counties in South Dakota during 1995.

Hydroelectric Power

Water used for hydroelectric power generation 

refers to the water used in the generation of electricity 

at plants where turbine generators are driven by falling 

water. Because of the four hydroelectric powerplants 

operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the 

Missouri River main stem in South Dakota, water use 

for hydroelectric power generation is substantial. 

During 1995, about 62,400 Mgal/d was used by the 

hydroelectric powerplants to generate about 

6,420 gigawatt-hours of electricity (table 14).

County Source

Ground Surface Total 

water water

Grant 1 .73 

Lawrence 0.44 

Minnehaha 0.00 

Pennington 0.44

Total 2.61

1.73 

0.14 

0.06 

0.00

1.93

The withdrawal of geothermal 

0.81 Mgal/d during 1995 (table 13).

3.46 

0.58 

0.06 

0.44

4.54

water totaled 

The majority of

laoie IH. csumciieu nyuroeiecuic power water use oy 

county in South Dakota, 1 995

Instream water use

County

Buffalo 

Charles Mix 

Hughes 

Mellette 

Yankton 1 

Total

Million 

gallons 

per day

16,776.00 

18,305.00 

16,587.00 

47.82 

10,646.00

62,361.82

Thousand 

acre-feet 

per year

18,805.90 

20,519.90 

18,594.03 

53.61 

11,934.17

69,907.60

Power 

generated, 

in gigawatthours

1,083.92 

1,905.55 

3,043.78 

0.68 

386.98

6,420.91

this water was from wells completed in the Madison 

aquifer that are used for heating. South Dakota does 

not have any operating nuclear powerplants.

Values presented reflect exactly one-half of the water-use and 

power-generation data for Gavins Point Dam. The other one-half is 

reported by Nebraska.

Instream Use 17
CONSUMPTIVE USE

The only consumptive use reported for South 

Dakota during 1995 is for reservoir evaporation. 

Reservoir evaporation was compiled by hydrologic 

unit code only.

Reservoir Evaporation

Reservoir evaporation includes water loss by 

evaporation from manmade impoundments that have a 

normal capacity equal to or greater than 5,000 acre-ft 

(acre-feet). Normal capacity is defined as total volume 

in a reservoir below normal retention level, including 

dead storage but excluding flood control and surcharge 

storage.

During 1995, reservoir evaporation was about 

1,561,000 acre-feet from a total reservoir surface area 

of about 560,000 acres (table 15). A large part of the 

reservoir evaporation in South Dakota occurs on the 

four main stem Missouri River reservoirs.

SUMMARY

Total water withdrawals for South Dakota during 

1995 were about 460 Mgal/d. Ground-water withdrawals accounted for about 41 percent of the total 

withdrawals, or about 187 Mgal/d. Surface-water 

withdrawals accounted for about 59 percent of the total 

withdrawals, or about 273 Mgal/d.

Total withdrawals for eight categories of offstream use in South Dakota during 1995 were compiled. The withdrawals were as follows: public supply, 

88.4 Mgal/d; domestic, 9.4 Mgal/d; commercial, 

10.1 Mgal/d; irrigation, 268.5 Mgal/d; livestock, 

45.9 Mgal/d; industrial, 5.1 Mgal/d; mining, 

27.3 Mgal/d; and thermoelectric power, 5.3 Mgal/d.

Water use for hydroelectric power, the only 

instream use compiled in this report, was about 

62,400 Mgal/d to generate 6,420 gigawatt-hours of 

electricity during 1995. Reservoir evaporation, the 

only consumptive use reported in this report, was about 

1,561,000 acre-feet from 560,000 reservoir surface 

acres during 1995.

Table 15. Reservoir evaporation water use by hydrologic 

unit in South Dakota, 1995

Hydrologic unit code 

number/name

07020001

09020101

10120106

10120109

10120110

10120202

10130102

10130105

10130302

10140101

10140105

10140201

10160003

10160004

10160008

10160011

10170101

10170102

Upper Minnesota

Bois De Sioux

Angostura Reservoir

Middle CheyenneSpring

Rapid

Lower Belle Fourche

Upper Lake Oahe

Lower Lake Oahe

South Fork Grand

Fort Randall Reservoir

Crow

Upper White

Upper James

Elm

Snake

Lower James

Lewis and Clark Lake

Vermillion 

Total

Surface 

area, in 

thousand 

acres

6.00

5.70

3.90

0.38

1.21

6.50

109.89

223.11

4.84

142.00

0.34

0.55

39.60

1.19

0.85

0.79

13.50

0.06

560.41

Reservoir 

evaporation, 

in thousand 

acre-feet

19.00

18.05

11.39

1.29

3.07

13.98

317.86

644.54

15.39

442.00

1.29

2.21

11.83

3.96

2.94

2.90

47.50

1.95

1,561.15

SELECTED REFERENCES

Solley, W.B., Pierce, R.R., and Perlman, H.A., 1993, 

Estimated use of water in the United States in 1990: 

U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1081, 76 p.

South Dakota Agricultural Statistic Service, 1995, South 

Dakota Agriculture, 1989-1995, 128 p.

U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995, Time series of resident 

population of places: April 1, 1990, to July 1, 1994, 

Data for South Dakota (machine-readable data file), 

prepared by Population distribution and Population 

Estimates Branches.

18 Estimated Use of Water in South Dakota, 1995

 ft- U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1998 673-265 / 24508 Region No. 8