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Methods of Rating Unsaturated Zone and Watershed Characteristics of Public Water Supplies in North Carolina

Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4283
By Jo Leslie Eimers, J. Curtis Weaver, Silvia Terziotti, and Robert W. Midgette

FIGURES
  1. Diagram showing mechanisms for delivery of precipitation to ground water and surface water
  2. Map showing physiographic provinces and availability of Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) data in North Carolina, August 1999
  3. Diagram showing (A) an unnamed well encircled by source water assessment area and (B) a portion of the source water assessment area overlain by 60-meter by 60-meter cells to illustrate the calculation of the unsaturated zone rating
  4. Maps showing (A) average annual precipitation and (B) a 24-hour, 25-year rainfall event in North Carolina
  5. Diagram showing an unnamed watershed upstream from a surface-water supply intake showing basin outline, stream network, and 1,000-foot buffered area around streams
TABLES
  1. Factors that contribute to the unsaturated zone rating
  2. Vertical hydraulic conductance categories and ratings for the unsaturated zone
  3. Land-surface slope categories and ratings for the unsaturated zone
  4. Land-cover categories and ratings for the unsaturated zone, 1990-93
  5. Land-use categories and ratings for the unsaturated zone and watershed characteristics, 1990-93
  6. Example determination of an unsaturated zone rating for an unnamed water-supply well
  7. Factors that contribute to the watershed characteristics rating
  8. Average annual precipitation categories and ratings for watershed characteristics
  9. Land-surface slope categories and ratings for watershed characteristics
  10. Land-cover categories and ratings for watershed characteristics, 1990-93
  11. Example determination of a watershed characteristics rating for part of an unnamed watershed upstream from a water-supply intake
CONVERSION FACTORS, TEMPERATURE, VERTICAL DATUM, AND ACRONYMS
 
Multiply by To obtain
Length
inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter
foot (ft) 0.3043 meter
Flow
foot squared per day (ft2/d) 0.0929 meter squared per day
Temperature: In this report, temperature is given in degrees Fahrenheit (°F), which can be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) by using the following equation:
 
°C = 5/9 (°F - 32)

 
Sea level: In this report, "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929), a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both the United States and Canada, formerly called Sea Level Datum of 1929.
 
Acronyms used in this report:
 
AMC ARC/INFO macro language
BFI base-flow index
DEM Digital Elevation Model
DENR Department of Environment and Natural Resources
DLG digital line graph
EDC EROS Data Center
GIS Geographic Information System
HMK harmonic mean hydraulic conductivity
LANDSAT Land Remote Sensing Satellite
MLRC Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics
MUIR Map Unit Interpretation Record
NAWQA National Water-Quality Assessment
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service
NWI National Wetlands Inventory
PRISM Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model
PWSS Public Water Supply Section
SCS Soil Conservation Service
SDWA Safe Drinking Water Act
SSURGO Soil Survey Geographic data base
STATSGO State Soil Geographic data base
SWAP Source Water Assessment Program
TM Thematic Mapper
USEPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USGS U.S. Geological Survey

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Last modified: Mon Nov 6 14:11:25 EST 2000