Maryland Department of the Environment and
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Statewide Water Balance Information – by Watershed
The Water Rights Division of the Department of the Environment (MDE), in conjunction with the Watershed Management and Analysis Division of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), has developed two statewide, watershed-oriented water balance databases (with accompanying metadata). One database details the use of the state's groundwater supply; the second shows surface water use. Both databases are for MDE's second level (eight-digit) watersheds. These databases were developed for use by MDE for planning and regulatory purposes and for DNR as part of the Integrated Natural Resources Assessment (INRA) planning process. These files are particularly useful to those involved in statewide or regional watershed planning, policy and analysis.The files and associated documentation are available as self-extracting zip files. The data sets are in dBase III (.dbf) format and can be accessed with commonly available database or spreadsheet software, as well as linked to geographic watershed boundary data using the watershed code as a common key.