This EnviroAtlas dataset summarizes several U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) water budget and surficial groundwater datasets by 12-digit HUC. It includes average rates of evapotranspiration, quick-flow runoff, effective recharge (which reflects the quantity of water available to replenish the groundwater table), and total recharge (which also includes an estimate for the recharge quantity that was subsequently intercepted by riparian vegetation and converted to evapotranspiration) based on the USGS' 800m water budget estimates for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) at long-term timescales for 2000-2013. These datasets were produced by Reitz et al. (https://doi.org/10.5066/F7PN93P0).

It also includes modeled averages of depth to the water table, mean water transit time across the vadose zone (or unsaturated zone), shallow aquifer transmissivity, long term average soil water content of the unsaturated zone, and mean water residence time in the root zone, based on the USGS's MODFLOW-6 groundwater flow models. These models were driven by spatially-distributed recharge estimated by Reitz et al. using average water-budget information for 1985-2015 and calibrated against long-term average water levels in observation wells, as well as water-level estimates derived from perennial first-order streams and wetlands. The development of the model input and output files included in the USGS data release, as well as post-processing used to derive additional water-budget components also included in this data release, are documented in the Water Resources Research article (https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026724).

This dataset was produced the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).