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Water withdrawals for human use are a major driver of the chronic low-flow problems in the Parker and Ipswich Watersheds. A larger number of municipalities source their water supplies all or in part from groundwater and surface water withdrawals in the PIE-Rivers Region. State-level regulations and enforcement have this far been inadequate to manage the regional water use to protect ecological resources, leaving conservation in the hands of individual towns, citizens and river advocacy groups. Since implementation of conservation measures is decentralized, it is important to summarize efforts and results across the region.
*These data will be collected only for municipalities that source a portion of their water from the Pie-Rivers region and will be summarized by municipality and by source watershed. Municipalities that do not source municipal water from the region are excluded. Municipalities that are located outside of the region, but source water from it (e.g. Salem) are included. Private wells are not monitored and are thus not included in this index.
- Per capita water use – This index shows how efficient the average resident is at using water and is a measure of the relative success of conservation measures.
Availability: PIE Frequency: Annual
Response Variable(s): Annual per capita water use (gallons)
- Total water withdrawals – This index shows overall water use and is a more direct measure of the sum total effect of water use on the watersheds. This is related to per capita water use, but is affected by changes in population.
Availability: PIE Frequency: Annual
Response Variable(s): Monthly water withdrawals (million gallons/day – MGD); Annual water withdrawals (MGD)