The delusive accuracy of global irrigation water withdrawal estimates

Arnald Puy; Razi Sheikholeslami; Hoshin V. Gupta; Jim W. Hall; Bruce Lankford; Samuele Lo Piano; Jonas Meier; Florian Pappenberger; Amilcare Porporato; Giulia Vico; Andrea Saltelli

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-30731-8

Nature Communications (Jun 2022)

The delusive accuracy of global irrigation water withdrawal estimates

Arnald Puy,
Razi Sheikholeslami,
Hoshin V. Gupta,
Jim W. Hall,
Bruce Lankford,
Samuele Lo Piano,
Jonas Meier,
Florian Pappenberger,
Amilcare Porporato,
Giulia Vico,
Andrea Saltelli

Affiliations

Arnald Puy: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
Razi Sheikholeslami: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford
Hoshin V. Gupta: Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona
Jim W. Hall: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford
Bruce Lankford: School of International Development, University of East Anglia
Samuele Lo Piano: School of the Built Environment, University of Reading
Jonas Meier: German Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD)
Florian Pappenberger: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Amilcare Porporato: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Princeton High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University
Giulia Vico: Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Andrea Saltelli: Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT), University of Bergen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30731-8
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 4

Abstract

Read online

Miscalculating the volumes of water withdrawn for irrigation, the largest consumer of freshwater in the world, jeopardizes sustainable water management. Hydrological models quantify water withdrawals, but their estimates are unduly precise. Model imperfections need to be appreciated to avoid policy misjudgements.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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