scholarly journals Hydrological impacts of global land cover change and human water use

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 5603-5626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce H. C. Bosmans ◽  
Ludovicus P. H. van Beek ◽  
Edwin H. Sutanudjaja ◽  
Marc F. P. Bierkens
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Human impacts on global terrestrial hydrology have been accelerating during the 20th century. These human impacts include the effects of reservoir building and human water use, as well as land cover change. To date, many global studies have focussed on human water use, but only a few focus on or include the impact of land cover change. Here we use PCR-GLOBWB, a combined global hydrological and water resources model, to assess the impacts of land cover change as well as human water use globally in different climatic zones. Our results show that land cover change has a strong effect on the global hydrological cycle, on the same order of magnitude as the effect of human water use (applying irrigation, abstracting water, for industrial use for example, including reservoirs, etc.). When globally averaged, changing the land cover from that of 1850 to that of 2000 increases discharge through reduced evapotranspiration. The effect of land cover change shows large spatial variability in magnitude and sign of change depending on, for example, the specific land cover change and climate zone. Overall, land cover effects on evapotranspiration are largest for the transition of tall natural vegetation to crops in energy-limited equatorial and warm temperate regions. In contrast, the inclusion of irrigation, water abstraction and reservoirs reduces global discharge through enhanced evaporation over irrigated areas and reservoirs as well as through water consumption. Hence, in some areas land cover change and water distribution both reduce discharge, while in other areas the effects may partly cancel out. The relative importance of both types of impacts varies spatially across climatic zones. From this study we conclude that land cover change needs to be considered when studying anthropogenic impacts on water resources.

scholarly journals Hydrological impacts of global land cover change and human water use

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce H. C. Bosmans ◽  
L. P. H. (Rens) van Beek ◽  
Edwin H. Sutanudjaja ◽  
Marc F. P. Bierkens
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Human impacts on global terrestrial hydrology have been accelerating during the 20th century. These human impacts include the effects of reservoir building and human water use, as well as land cover change. To date, many global studies have focussed on human water use, but only a few focus on or include the impact of land cover change. Here we use the global hydrological and water resources model PCR-GLOBWB to assess the impacts of land cover change as well as human water use. Our results show that land cover change has a strong effect on the global hydrological cycle, at least as strong as the effect of human water use (applying irrigation, abstracting water for e.g. industrial use, including reservoirs etc). Globally averaged, changing the land cover from 1850 to that of 2000 increases discharge through reduced evapotranspiration, with large spatial variability in magnitude and sign of change depending on e.g. the specific land cover change and climate zone. In contrast, the inclusion of irrigation, water abstraction and reservoirs reduces global discharge through enhanced evaporation over irrigated areas and reservoirs as well as water consumption. Hence in some areas land cover change and water distribution both reduce discharge, while in other areas the effects may partly cancel out. The relative importance of both types of impacts varies spatially. From this study we conclude that land cover change needs to be considered when studying anthropogenic impacts on water resources.

scholarly journals The Impact of Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC) on Water Resources in a Tropical Catchment in Tanzania under Different Climate Change Scenarios

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian Näschen ◽  
Bernd Diekkrüger ◽  
Mariele Evers ◽  
Britta Höllermann ◽  
Stefanie Steinbach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
The Impact

Many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are prone to land use and land cover change (LULCC). In many cases, natural systems are converted into agricultural land to feed the growing population. However, despite climate change being a major focus nowadays, the impacts of these conversions on water resources, which are essential for agricultural production, is still often neglected, jeopardizing the sustainability of the socio-ecological system. This study investigates historic land use/land cover (LULC) patterns as well as potential future LULCC and its effect on water quantities in a complex tropical catchment in Tanzania. It then compares the results using two climate change scenarios. The Land Change Modeler (LCM) is used to analyze and to project LULC patterns until 2030 and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is utilized to simulate the water balance under various LULC conditions. Results show decreasing low flows by 6–8% for the LULC scenarios, whereas high flows increase by up to 84% for the combined LULC and climate change scenarios. The effect of climate change is stronger compared to the effect of LULCC, but also contains higher uncertainties. The effects of LULCC are more distinct, although crop specific effects show diverging effects on water balance components. This study develops a methodology for quantifying the impact of land use and climate change and therefore contributes to the sustainable management of the investigated catchment, as it shows the impact of environmental change on hydrological extremes (low flow and floods) and determines hot spots, which are critical for environmental development.

scholarly journals Impact of land-cover change related to urbanization on surface runoff estimation

2018 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 03014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Gilewski ◽  
Arkadiusz Węglarz
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Surface Runoff ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Engineering Structures ◽  
Mountainous Catchment ◽  
Impact Of Urbanization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Impervious Areas

Civil engineering structures are highly responsible for the negative aspects of urbanization on the hydrological cycle. Due to the land cover change and an increase of impervious areas the risk of flooding can rise significantly. The paper presents the impact of urbanization processes on surface runoff estimation for a small mountainous catchment between 1990-2012.

scholarly journals Simulating human impacts on global water resources using VIC-5

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bram Droppers ◽  
Wietse H. P. Franssen ◽  
Michelle T. H. van Vliet ◽  
Bart Nijssen ◽  
Fulco Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Environmental Flow ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Water Withdrawals ◽  
Global Water

Abstract. Questions related to historical and future water resources and water scarcity have been addressed by several macro-scale hydrological models over the last few decades. However, further advancements are needed to improve the integration of anthropogenic impacts and environmental flow requirements into hydrological models. The newly developed VIC-WUR model aims to increase the applicability of the VIC-5 model for water resource assessments, specifically by including human impacts and environmental flow requirements. To this end, VIC-WUR extends VIC-5 with modules for irrigation, domestic, industrial, energy and livestock water-use, environmental flow requirements for surface and groundwater systems, and dam operation. Model inputs of sectoral water demand were estimated independently and correlated well to reported national water withdrawals. VIC-WUR results, based on the newly developed modules, corresponded with results from reported global water withdrawals and other hydrological models, although differences exist. The VICWUR irrigation withdrawals were high compared to the other models but closer to the reported values, decreasing the gap between simulated and reported withdrawals. Irrigation withdrawals were probably high due to the inclusion of groundwater withdrawals and paddy irrigation in the model. Domestic and industrial water withdrawals were slightly lower than the reported values. Domestic and industrial withdrawals were probably insufficient due to low water availability, as the potential water withdrawals are more in line with reported values. Livestock water withdrawals were within the range of reported values and other models. The model additions comprehensively incorporate anthropogenic and environmental water use, which provides new opportunities for global water resource assessments. A preliminary assessment of environmental flow requirements shows competition between water resources allocated for human consumption and the environment, from ground and surface water sources. The improvements made here are a first step towards integrated water-food-energy nexus modelling.

Modelling long-term soil organic carbon dynamics under the impact of land cover change and soil redistribution

CATENA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Bouchoms ◽  
Zhengang Wang ◽  
Veerle Vanacker ◽  
Sebastian Doetterl ◽  
Kristof Van Oost
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Soil Redistribution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics

scholarly journals A simulation study on the effect of climate change on crop water use and chill unit accumulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 113 (7/8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiodun A. Ogundeji ◽  
Henry Jordaan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Crop Water Use ◽  
Chill Unit ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Climate change and its impact on already scarce water resources are of global importance, but even more so for water scarce countries. Apart from the effect of climate change on water supply, the chill unit requirement of deciduous fruit crops is also expected to be affected. Although research on crop water use has been undertaken, researchers have not taken the future climate into consideration. They also have focused on increasing temperatures but failed to relate temperature to chill unit accumulation, especially in South Africa. With a view of helping farmers to adapt to climate change, in this study we provide information that will assist farmers in their decision-making process for adaptation and in the selection of appropriate cultivars of deciduous fruits. Crop water use and chill unit requirements are modelled for the present and future climate. Results show that, irrespective of the irrigation system employed, climate change has led to increases in crop water use. Water use with the drip irrigation system was lower than with sprinkler irrigation as a result of efficiency differences in the irrigation technologies. It was also confirmed that the accumulated chill units will decrease in the future as a consequence of climate change. In order to remain in production, farmers need to adapt to climate change stress by putting in place water resources and crop management plans. Thus, producers must be furnished with a variety of adaptation or management strategies to overcome the impact of climate change.

scholarly journals Variations of global and continental water balance components as impacted by climate forcing uncertainty and human water use

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 2877-2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Müller Schmied ◽  
Linda Adam ◽  
Stephanie Eisner ◽  
Gabriel Fink ◽  
Martina Flörke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Climate Forcings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Water

Abstract. When assessing global water resources with hydrological models, it is essential to know about methodological uncertainties. The values of simulated water balance components may vary due to different spatial and temporal aggregations, reference periods, and applied climate forcings, as well as due to the consideration of human water use, or the lack thereof. We analyzed these variations over the period 1901–2010 by forcing the global hydrological model WaterGAP 2.2 (ISIMIP2a) with five state-of-the-art climate data sets, including a homogenized version of the concatenated WFD/WFDEI data set. Absolute values and temporal variations of global water balance components are strongly affected by the uncertainty in the climate forcing, and no temporal trends of the global water balance components are detected for the four homogeneous climate forcings considered (except for human water abstractions). The calibration of WaterGAP against observed long-term average river discharge Q significantly reduces the impact of climate forcing uncertainty on estimated Q and renewable water resources. For the homogeneous forcings, Q of the calibrated and non-calibrated regions of the globe varies by 1.6 and 18.5 %, respectively, for 1971–2000. On the continental scale, most differences for long-term average precipitation P and Q estimates occur in Africa and, due to snow undercatch of rain gauges, also in the data-rich continents Europe and North America. Variations of Q at the grid-cell scale are large, except in a few grid cells upstream and downstream of calibration stations, with an average variation of 37 and 74 % among the four homogeneous forcings in calibrated and non-calibrated regions, respectively. Considering only the forcings GSWP3 and WFDEI_hom, i.e., excluding the forcing without undercatch correction (PGFv2.1) and the one with a much lower shortwave downward radiation SWD than the others (WFD), Q variations are reduced to 16 and 31 % in calibrated and non-calibrated regions, respectively. These simulation results support the need for extended Q measurements and data sharing for better constraining global water balance assessments. Over the 20th century, the human footprint on natural water resources has become larger. For 11–18% of the global land area, the change of Q between 1941–1970 and 1971–2000 was driven more strongly by change of human water use including dam construction than by change in precipitation, while this was true for only 9–13 % of the land area from 1911–1940 to 1941–1970.

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