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Multicompartment Depletion Factors for Water Consumption on a Global Scale.
Eleonore Pierrat1, Martin Dorber2, Inge de Graaf3
1Section for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Environmental Science & Technology
|February 28, 2023
Summary
New depletion factors globally assess freshwater consumption impacts on rivers, groundwater, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration. This helps manage water resources sustainably by understanding interconnected hydrological effects.
Area of Science:
- Hydrology
- Environmental Science
- Water Resource Management
Background:
- Freshwater resource management faces challenges balancing human and ecosystem needs.
- Existing regional frameworks lack global operational methods to assess water consumption impacts on interconnected water system compartments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop global depletion factors quantifying water consumption effects on streamflow, groundwater storage, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration.
- To provide a method for evaluating the interdependence of water consumption impacts across different hydrological compartments at a global scale.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a global surface water-groundwater model output for 1960-2000 to estimate freshwater availability and consumption.
- Developed depletion factors for 8,664 river basins, covering 93% of the landmass with significant water consumption.
Main Results:
- Water consumption globally results in the most significant water loss from rivers, followed by aquifers and soil, while increasing evapotranspiration.
- Depletion factors exhibit significant regional variation (up to four orders of magnitude) influenced by consumption levels, water source, aridity, and water transfers.
Conclusions:
- The developed depletion factors offer insights into the combined effects of surface and groundwater consumption on hydrological variables.
- These factors can enhance sustainability assessment tools for quantifying water consumption's ecological impacts and guiding water management strategies.
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