The 2012 Merced County land use survey data was developed by the State of California, Department of Water Resources (DWR) through its Division of Regional Assistance (DRA). Land use boundaries were digitized, and land use was mapped by staff of DWR’s South Central Region Office using 2010 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) one-meter resolution digital imagery, Roads and waterways were delineated as a countywide shapefile using the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER® (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database and then clipped to match the USGS quadrangle boundaries. Field boundaries were digitized after roads and waterways on a quadrangle by quadrangle basis. Digitizing was completed at 1:4000 scale for the entire survey area. They were drawn to depict observable areas of the same land use. They were not drawn to represent legal parcel (ownership) boundaries, or meant to be used as parcel boundaries. Land use polygons in agricultural areas were mapped in greater detail than areas of urban or native vegetation. Quality control procedures were performed jointly by staff at DWR’s DRA headquarters, and South Central Region Office. This data was developed to aid DWR’s ongoing efforts to monitor land use for the main purpose of determining current and projected water uses.