Ground Water Management Branch
The Groundwater Resources Branch of the Division of Water Resources provides technical and management support for the development and use of groundwater resources in the State of North Carolina. Staff provides both quantity and quality expertise to understand groundwater because it is an essential resource in the State. More than 50% of North Carolina's population receives its drinking water supplies from groundwater. This includes 25% of all drinking water from public water supplies, and 100% of all self-supplied domestic drinking water supplies (as of 2000, about one-third of the State's population -- 2,414,794 North Carolinians -- received domestic water supplies from private wells). In addition to its use for drinking water, groundwater is withdrawn extensively for irrigation and livestock, mining, and for self-supplied commercial and industrial uses (those that are not served by public water supplies).