REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONs No. 41


   Prior to February 1964, no surface water was being withdrawn and ground water was being used at the rate of 25.2 mgd. Of this amount, 22.7 mgd came from the Floridan aquifer. In February 1964, when the International Paper Company began using surface water, groundwater use in the basin was reduced to about 11 mgd.
   The International Paper Company, the major industry in the area, is the largest user of water. Prior to February 1964, the water used by this company was supplied by wells. About 13.5 of 15 mgd was pumped from the Floridan aquifer and the remainder was pumped from the watertable aquifer. Water used by this industry prior to 1964 is shown by graph in figure 16. In February 1964, this company started receiving water from Deer Point Lake at the rate of about 30 mgd.
   There are nine public water-supply systems in the area. All water produced by public water-supply systems is pumped from the ground. The rate of pumping varies from 6.7 mgd during low demand periods of fall and winter to 12.9 mgd during peak demand periods of spring and summer. Areas served by these systems and locations of the wells are shown in figure 17.
   Water use has increased with population (fig. 16). Also the per capita consumption in Panama City has increased from 70 gpd (gallons per day) to 80 gpd during the 10-year period, 1950-60. This figure is based on the average daily pumpage of the Panama City water system and4the population of the area supplied by this system. Only a small part of the water pumped by the city is supplied to industry and other non-domestic users. Also, there are a number of private irrigation wells in the city. Partly for these reasons the per capita consumption is below the more normal rate of about 150 gpd per person that is reported in other areas.
   Nearly 18,000 persons live in areas not served by public water systems. At a per capita consumption of 80 gpd this would amount to about 1.4 mgd used for rural domestic purposes.

            WATER HIGH LIGHTS OF THE BASIN
 DECLINE OF WATER LEVELS IN THE PANAMA CITY AREA GENERAL STATEMENT
    From 1908 to 1964 water levels in the Floridan aquifer near Panama City were lowered about 200 feet in the centers of major well fields. This decline represents the difference between the reported static water level of 16 feet above mean sea level in the first well drilled in 1908 and the pumping water levels in the major well fields