The county inventory of cattle and calves in the county fell 8 percent over the past 10 years, while the county inventory of hogs and pigs increased 8 percent, leading to a decline in water consumption for livestock. Some continued decline is anticipated in the next 20 years. Domestic water use during the next 20 years in Jackson County will rise slightly as a result of a population increase and some increase in the per-capita consumption rate. In Jackson County current water use is about 68,616 mgy power production facilities. Any future change in water uses for industry, mining and power production could have a large impact on total water use in the county.
Wells supply water for many communities, farms, and industries in east-central Iowa.
The water from these wells comes from deposits of unconsolidated materials and layered rocks whose characteristics are consistent enough to allow fairly reliable predictions as to their location and water-yielding potential. Rocks that store and transmit water are called aquifers. Within east- central Iowa, there are 3 separate surficial aquifers and 5 bedrock aquifers available for use as water supplies. The unconsolidated deposits near the land surface comprise the surficial aquifers. Underlying are layers of sedimentary rock collectively called bedrock.