Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A review of the assessment of sustainable water use at continental-to-global scale

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sustainable Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Freshwater scarcity and unsustainable water use are just some of the growing concerns in many parts of the world. Increasing water demand accompanied by a changing climate can lead to unsustainable use of freshwater resulting in water scarcity. Several studies have quantified sustainable water use and water scarcity at a continental-to-global scale in the past. This review focuses on the large-scale water resources assessments and the methods by which sustainable water use and water scarcity are quantified. The review is structured based on a framework that comprises the main components of water demand and supply and other aspects of sustainable water use including virtual water trade and future projections of sustainable water use. The major components of water demand and supply in such assessments are increasingly derived from global earth system models and national-level census datasets. These assessments conclude that the selection of appropriate spatial and temporal scales is critical. The grid-based global earth system models enable better spatial resampling of water information across country/political boundaries. Similarly, by refining the temporal scale from annual (the most commonly used temporal scale of assessment) to monthly time steps, water scarcity is better captured due to the distinctive seasonality of water availability and demand. This paper also discusses the role of major drivers of water scarcity. Although both changing climate and increasing water demand contribute to water scarcity, the majority of the literature concludes that the demand-driven freshwater scarcity has a much greater impact than that induced by climate change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcamo J, Doll P, Henrichs T, Kaspar F, Lehner B, Rosch T, Siebert S (2003a) Development and testing of the WaterGAP 2 global model of water use and availability. Hydrol Sci J 48:317–337. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.48.3.317.45290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcamo J, Doll P, Henrichs T, Kaspar F, Lehner B, Rosch T, Siebert S (2003b) Global estimates of water withdrawals and availability under current and future "business-as-usual" conditions. Hydrol Sci J 48:339–348. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.48.3.339.45278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcamo J, Döll P, Henrichs T, Kaspar F, Lehner B, Rösch T, Siebert S (2003c) Development and testing of the WaterGAP 2 global model of water use and availability. Hydrol Sci J 48:317–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcamo J, Flörke M, Märker M (2007) Future long-term changes in global water resources driven by socio-economic and climatic changes. Hydrol Sci J 52:247–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcamo J, Henrichs T, Rosch T (2000) World water in 2025: global modeling and scenario analysis. World Water Scenar Anal 20:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldaya MM, Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY, Mekonnen MM (2012) The water footprint assessment manual: setting the global standard. Routledge, Abingdon

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnell NW (1999) Climate change and global water resources. Glob Environ Change 9:S31–S49

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnell NW (2004) Climate change and global water resources: SRES emissions and socio-economic scenarios. Glob Environ Change 14:31–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnell NW, Lloyd-Hughes B (2014) The global-scale impacts of climate change on water resources and flooding under new climate and socio-economic scenarios. Clim Change 122:127–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0948-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnell NW, van Vuuren DP, Isaac M (2011) The implications of climate policy for the impacts of climate change on global water resources. Glob Environ Change Human Policy Dimens 21:592–603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthington AH, Bunn SE, Poff NL, Naiman RJ (2006) The challenge of providing environmental flow rules to sustain river ecosystems. Ecol Appl 16:1311–1318

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldocchi D et al (2001) FLUXNET: a new tool to study the temporal and spatial variability of ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy flux densities. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 82:2415–2434

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings RB, Jones CV (2011) Forecasting urban water demand. American Water Works Association, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonan GB et al (2002) The land surface climatology of the community land model coupled to the NCAR community climate model*. J Clim 15:3123–3149

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauman KA, Richter BD, Postel S, Malsy M, Flörke M (2016) Water depletion: an improved metric for incorporating seasonal and dry-year water scarcity into water risk assessments. Water depletion: Improved metric for seasonal and dry-year water scarcity. Elementa. https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland G et al (1987) Our common future (‘Brundtland report’)

  • Chapagain AK, Tickner D (2012) Water footprint: help or hindrance? Water Altern 5:563–581

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen X, Hu Q (2004) Groundwater influences on soil moisture and surface evaporation. J Hydrol 297:285–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Chenoweth J, Hadjikakou M, Zoumides C (2014) Quantifying the human impact on water resources: a critical review of the water footprint concept. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 18:2325–2342. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2325-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark MP, Serreze MC, McCabe GJ (2001) Historical effects of El Nino and La Nina events on the seasonal evolution of the montane snowpack in the Columbia and Colorado River Basins. Water Resour Res 37:741–757

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen RA (2002) Review: handbook of water use and conservation. Electron Green J 1:2

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley JW, Mitrovica JX, Bailey RC, Tamisiea ME, Davis JL (2006) Land water storage within the Congo Basin inferred from GRACE satellite gravity data. Geophys Res Lett 33:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Datanet (2011) Indiastat. Datanet India. https://www.indiastat.com/

  • Declaration B (2007) The Brisbane Declaration: environmental flows are essential for freshwater ecosystem health and human well-being. In: 10th international river symposium, Brisbane, Australia, pp 3–6

  • Dodds WK, Perkin JS, Gerken JE (2013) Human impact on freshwater ecosystem services: a global perspective. Environ Sci Technol 47:9061–9068. https://doi.org/10.1021/es4021052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Döll P (2009) Vulnerability to the impact of climate change on renewable groundwater resources: a global-scale assessment. Environ Res Lett 4:035006

    Google Scholar 

  • Döll P, Siebert S (2002) Global modeling of irrigation water requirements. Water Resour Res 38:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Döll P, Kaspar F, Lehner B (2003) A global hydrological model for deriving water availability indicators: model tuning and validation. J Hydrol 270:105–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Döll P, Fiedler K, Zhang J (2009) Global-scale analysis of river flow alterations due to water withdrawals and reservoirs. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 13:2413–2432

    Google Scholar 

  • Döll P et al (2012) Impact of water withdrawals from groundwater and surface water on continental water storage variations. J Geodyn 59:143–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Esri I (2008) ArcGIS 9.3. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkenmark M (1997) Meeting water requirements of an expanding world population. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 352:929–936

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO C (2009) A computer program for irrigation planning and management. Irrigation and drainage paper, p 46

  • Fekete BM, Vörösmarty CJ, Grabs W (2002) High-resolution fields of global runoff combining observed river discharge and simulated water balances. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 16:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Feng W, Zhong M, Lemoine JM, Biancale R, Hsu HT, Xia J (2013) Evaluation of groundwater depletion in North China using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and ground-based measurements. Water Resour Res 49:2110–2118

    Google Scholar 

  • Flörke M, Kynast E, Bärlund I, Eisner S, Wimmer F, Alcamo J (2013) Domestic and industrial water uses of the past 60 years as a mirror of socio-economic development: a global simulation study. Glob Environ Change 23:144–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley JA, Costa MH, Delire C, Ramankutty N, Snyder P (2003) Green surprise? How terrestrial ecosystems could affect earth’s climate. Front Ecol Environ 1:38–44

    Google Scholar 

  • George B et al (2011) An integrated modelling framework to evaluate water allocation strategies in the Broken catchment, Victoria. In: MODSIM2011, 19th international congress on modelling and simulation, pp 4099–4105

  • Gerten D, Heinke J, Hoff H, Biemans H, Fader M, Waha K (2011) Global water availability and requirements for future food production. J Hydrometeorol 12:885–899

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerten D, Hoff H, Rockström J, Jägermeyr J, Kummu M, Pastor AV (2013) Towards a revised planetary boundary for consumptive freshwater use: role of environmental flow requirements. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 5:551–558

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert B, Wright SJ, Muller-Landau HC, Kitajima K, Hernandéz A (2006) Life history trade-offs in tropical trees and lianas. Ecology 87:1281–1288

    Google Scholar 

  • Giordano M (2009) Global groundwater? Issues and solutions. Ann Rev Environ Resour 34:153–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Gippel C, Marsh N, Grice T (2012) Flow health— software to assess the deviation of river flows from reference and to design a monthly environmental flow regime. Technical Manual and User Guide, Version 2.0. ACEDP Australia-China Environment Development Partnership, River Health and Environmental Flow in China. International WaterCentre, Brisbane, Fluvial Systems Pty Ltd, Stockton, and Yorb Pty Ltd, Brisbane, April

  • Gleick PH (1998) Water in crisis: paths to sustainable water use. Ecol Appl 8:571–579

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosling SN, Arnell NW (2016) A global assessment of the impact of climate change on water scarcity. Clim Change 134:371–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0853-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosling SN et al (2011) A review of recent developments in climate change science. Part II: the global-scale impacts of climate change. Progress Phys Geogr 35:443–464. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133311407650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosling SN et al (2017) A comparison of changes in river runoff from multiple global and catchment-scale hydrological models under global warming scenarios of 1 °C, 2 °C and 3 °C. Clim Change 141:577–595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1773-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haddeland I et al (2014) Global water resources affected by human interventions and climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111:3251–3256. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1222475110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakimian H (2003) Water scarcity and food imports: an empirical investigation of the ‘virtual water’ hypothesis in the MENA region. Rev Middle East Econ Financ 1:71–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanasaki N et al (2008) An integrated model for the assessment of global water resources—Part 2: applications and assessments. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 12:1027–1037

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanasaki N, Inuzuka T, Kanae S, Oki T (2010) An estimation of global virtual water flow and sources of water withdrawal for major crops and livestock products using a global hydrological model. J Hydrol 384:232–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanasaki N et al (2013) A global water scarcity assessment under shared socio-economic pathways. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 17:2393

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra A, Mekonnen M (2016) Imported water risk: the case of the UK—supporting Material

  • Hoekstra AY (2017) Water footprint assessment: evolvement of a new research field. Water Resour Manag 31:3061–3081. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1618-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra AY, Hung PQ (2002) Virtual water trade A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade. Value Water Res Rep Ser 11:166

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra AY, Hung PQ (2005) Globalisation of water resources: international virtual water flows in relation to crop trade. Glob Environ Change 15:45–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra AY, Mekonnen MM (2012) The water footprint of humanity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:3232–3237

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra AY, Mekonnen MM, Chapagain AK, Mathews RE, Richter BD (2012) Global monthly water scarcity: blue water footprints versus blue water availability. PLoS ONE 7:e32688

    Google Scholar 

  • Horne A, Stewardson M, Freebairn J, McMahon TA (2010) Using an economic framework to inform management of environmental entitlements. River Res Appl 26:779–795

    Google Scholar 

  • Hossain F, Niyogi D, Adegoke J, Kallos G, Pielke R (2011) Making sense of the water resources that will be available for future use. Eos 92:144–145. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011EO170005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hummel D, Kluge T, Liehr S, Hachelaf M, Allee H (2006) Virtual water trade Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) in Frankfurt/Main

  • Islam MS, Oki T, Kanae S, Hanasaki N, Agata Y, Yoshimura K (2006) A grid-based assessment of global water scarcity including virtual water trading. Integrated assessment of water resources and global change. Springer, Berlin, pp 19–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph N, Ryu D, Malano HM, George B, Sudheer K (2019) Estimation of industrial water demand in India using census-based statistical data. Resour Conserv Recycl 149:31–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohli A, Frenken K, Spottorno C (2010) Disambiguation of water use statistics. FAO, Aquastat, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar MD (2003) Food security and sustainable agriculture in India: the water management challenge, vol 60. IWMI, Colombo

    Google Scholar 

  • Kummu M, Ward PJ, de Moel H, Varis O (2010) Is physical water scarcity a new phenomenon? Global assessment of water shortage over the last two millennia. Environ Res Lett 5:034006

    Google Scholar 

  • Kummu M et al (2016) The world’s road to water scarcity: shortage and stress in the 20th century and pathways towards sustainability. Sci Rep 6:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Kundzewicz ZW, Gerten D (2015) Grand challenges related to the assessment of climate change impacts on freshwater resources. J Hydrol Eng. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuylenstierna JL, Bjorklund G, Najlis P (1997) Future sustainable water use: challenges and constraints. J Soil Water Conserv 52:151–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Latu K, Malano HM, Costelloe JF, Peterson TJ (2014) Estimation of the environmental risk of regulated river flow. J Hydrol 517:74–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Leng GY, Huang MY, Tang QH, Leung LR (2015) A modeling study of irrigation effects on global surface water and groundwater resources under a changing climate. J Adv Model Earth Syst 7:1285–1304. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015ms000437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Liu Q, Yang H (2016) Assessing water scarcity by simultaneously considering environmental flow requirements, water quantity, and water quality. Ecol Indic 60:434–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Wang Y, Yu Z, Cao X, Tian L, Sun S, Wu P (2017) A comprehensive analysis of blue water scarcity from the production, consumption, and water transfer perspectives. Ecol Indic 72:870–880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.09.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J et al (2017) Water scarcity assessments in the past, present and future. Earth's Future 20:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Loucks DP (2000) Sustainable water resources management. Water Int 25:3–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancosu N, Snyder RL, Kyriakakis G, Spano D (2015) Water scarcity and future challenges for food production. Water (Switzerland) 7:975–992. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7030975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2010) A global and high-resolution assessment of the green, blue and grey water footprint of wheat. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 14:1259–1276. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1259-2010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2011) The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 15:1577–1600. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-1577-2011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2016) Four billion people facing severe water scarcity. Sci Advances 2:e1500323

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell TD, Jones PD (2005) An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution grids. Int J Climatol 25:693–712

    Google Scholar 

  • Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Ann Intern Med 151(4):264–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Mote PW (2003) Trends in snow water equivalent in the Pacific Northwest and their climatic causes. Geophys Res Lett 30:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray SJ, Foster PN, Prentice IC (2012) Future global water resources with respect to climate change and water withdrawals as estimated by a dynamic global vegetation model. J Hydrol 448–449:14–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.02.044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oki T, Kanae S (2006) Global hydrological cycles and world water resources. Science 313:1068–1072

    Google Scholar 

  • Oki T, Agata Y, Kanae S, Saruhashi T, Yang D, Musiake K (2001) Global assessment of current water resources using total runoff integrating pathways. Hydrol Sci J 46:983–995

    Google Scholar 

  • Oki T, Sato M, Kawamura A, Miyake M, Kanae S, Musiake K (2003) Virtual water trade to Japan and in the world. In: Hoekstra AY (eds) Virtual water trade: proceedings of the international expert meeting on virtual water trade, value of water research report series, vol 12

  • Overgaard J, Rosbjerg D, Butts M (2006) Land-surface modelling in hydrological perspective? A review. Biogeosciences 3:229–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Pang AP, Sun T, Yang ZF (2014) A framework for determining recommended environmental flows for balancing agricultural and ecosystem water demands. Hydrol Sci J 59:890–903. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.816425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pastor A, Ludwig F, Biemans H, Hoff H, Kabat P (2014) Accounting for environmental flow requirements in global water assessments. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 18:5041–5059

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitman A (2003) The evolution of, and revolution in, land surface schemes designed for climate models. Int J Climatol 23:479–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Pokhrel Y et al (2012) Incorporating anthropogenic water regulation modules into a land surface model. J Hydrometeorol 13:255–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Pokhrel YN, Hanasaki N, Yeh PJ, Yamada TJ, Kanae S, Oki T (2012) Model estimates of sea-level change due to anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial water storage. Nat Geosci 5:389–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Pokhrel YN, Koirala S, Yeh PJF, Hanasaki N, Longuevergne L, Kanae S, Oki T (2015) Incorporation of groundwater pumping in a global Land Surface Model with the representation of human impacts. Water Resour Res 51:78–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann FT, Siebert S, Döll P (2010) MIRCA2000—global monthly irrigated and rainfed crop areas around the year 2000: a new high-resolution data set for agricultural and hydrological modeling. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 24:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Postel SL (2000) Entering an era of water scarcity: the challenges ahead. Ecol Appl 10:941–948

    Google Scholar 

  • Purves D, Pacala S (2008) Predictive models of forest dynamics. Science 320:1452–1453

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramillien G, Cazenave A, Brunau O (2004) Global time variations of hydrological signals from GRACE satellite gravimetry. Geophys J Int 158:813–826

    Google Scholar 

  • Raskin PD, Hansen E, Margolis RM (1996) Water and sustainability: global patterns and long-range problems. Nat Resour Forum 20:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Richey AS et al (2015) Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE. Water Resour Res 51:5217–5238

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridoutt BG (2009) Water footprint: a concept in need of further definition. Water 36:51–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockström J, Falkenmark M, Karlberg L, Hoff H, Rost S, Gerten D (2009) Future water availability for global food production: the potential of green water for increasing resilience to global change. Water Resour Res 45:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockström J, Falkenmark M, Lannerstad M, Karlberg L (2012) The planetary water drama: dual task of feeding humanity and curbing climate change. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodell M, Famiglietti J (2002) The potential for satellite-based monitoring of groundwater storage changes using GRACE: the High Plains aquifer. Cent US J Hydrol 263:245–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodell M et al (2004) The global land data assimilation system. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 85:381–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodell M, Chen J, Kato H, Famiglietti JS, Nigro J, Wilson CR (2007) Estimating groundwater storage changes in the Mississippi River basin (USA) using GRACE. Hydrogeol J 15:159–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodell M, Velicogna I, Famiglietti JS (2009) Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature 460:999

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosegrant MW, Cai X, Cline SA (2002) World water and food to 2025: dealing with scarcity. Int Food Policy Res Inst 20:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Rost S, Gerten D, Bondeau A, Lucht W, Rohwer J, Schaphoff S (2008) Agricultural green and blue water consumption and its influence on the global water system. Water Resour Res 44:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Santikayasa IP, Babel MS, Shrestha S, Jourdain D, Clemente RS (2014) Evaluation of water use sustainability under future climate and irrigation management scenarios in Citarum River Basin. Indones Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 21:181–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato H, Ito A, Ito A, Ise T, Kato E (2015) Current status and future of land surface models. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 61:34–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Satoh Y et al (2017) Multi‐model and multi‐scenario assessments of Asian water futures: the Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative. Earth's Future

  • Schewe J et al (2014) Multimodel assessment of water scarcity under climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:3245–3250

    Google Scholar 

  • Seckler D, Amarasinghe U, Molden D, de Fraiture C (2000) World water supply and demand, 1995 to 2025. International Water Management Institute, Colombo

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah T (2005) Groundwater and human development: challenges and opportunities in livelihoods and environment. Water Sci Technol 51:27–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah T, Molden D, Sakthivadivel R, Seckler D (2001) Global groundwater situation: opportunities and challenges. Econ Polit Wkly 20:4142–4150

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen Y, Oki T, Utsumi N, Kanae S, Hanasaki N (2008) Projection of future world water resources under SRES scenarios: water withdrawal. Hydrol Sci J 53:11–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiklomanov I (2000a) World water resources and water use: present assessment and outlook for 2025. World Water Scenar Anal 20:396

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiklomanov IA (2000b) Appraisal and assessment of world water resources. Water Int 25:11–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Siebert S, Döll P (2010) Quantifying blue and green virtual water contents in global crop production as well as potential production losses without irrigation. J Hydrol 384:198–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Siebert S, Burke J, Faures J-M, Frenken K, Hoogeveen J, Döll P, Portmann FT (2010) Groundwater use for irrigation—a global inventory. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 14:1863–1880

    Google Scholar 

  • Smakhtin V (2006) An assessment of environmental flow requirements of Indian river basins, vol 107. IWMI, Colombo

    Google Scholar 

  • Smakhtin V, Revenga C, Döll P (2004a) A pilot global assessment of environmental water requirements and scarcity. Water Int 29:307–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060408691785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smakhtin V, Revenga C, Döll P (2004b) Taking into account environmental water requirements in global-scale water resources assessments, vol 2. IWMI, Colombo

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith M (1992) CROPWAT: a computer program for irrigation planning and management, vol 46. Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Sood A, Smakhtin V (2015) Global hydrological models: a review. Hydrol Sci J 60:549–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewardson M, Webb J (2010) Modelling ecological responses to flow alteration: making the most of existing data and knowledge. Ecosyst Response Model Murray Darling Basin 20:37–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan A (2003) Economics: principles in action

  • Tapley BD, Bettadpur S, Ries JC, Thompson PF, Watkins MM (2004) GRACE measurements of mass variability in the earth system. Science 305:503–505

    Google Scholar 

  • Tennant DL (1976) Instream flow regimens for fish, wildlife, recreation and related environmental resources. Fisheries 1:6–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Tessmann S (1980) Environmental assessment, technical appendix E in environmental use sector reconnaissance elements of the western Dakotas Region of South Dakota study Water Resources Research Institute, South Dakota State University

  • Tharme RE (2003) A global perspective on environmental flow assessment: emerging trends in the development and application of environmental flow methodologies for rivers. River Res Appl 19:397–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D, Cassman KG, Matson PA, Naylor R, Polasky S (2002) Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature 418:671–677

    Google Scholar 

  • Turton A (1999) Precipitation, people, pipelines and power: towards a ‘virtual water’ based political ecology discourse. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London

    Google Scholar 

  • UNSD (1997) Glossary of environment statistics vol studies in methods. Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Beek LPH, Wada Y, Bierkens MFP (2011) Global monthly water stress: 1. Water balance and water availability. Water Resour Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vassolo S, Döll P (2005) Global-scale gridded estimates of thermoelectric power and manufacturing water use. Water Resour Res 41:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veettil AV, Mishra AK (2016) Water security assessment using blue and green water footprint concepts. J Hydrol 542:589–602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.09.032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veldkamp TI, Eisner S, Wada Y, Aerts JC, Ward PJ (2015) Sensitivity of water scarcity events to ENSO-driven climate variability at the global scale

  • Veldkamp TIE, Wada Y, Aerts JCJH, Ward PJ (2016) Towards a global water scarcity risk assessment framework: Incorporation of probability distributions and hydro-climatic variability. Environ Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/2/024006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veldkamp T et al (2017) Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century. Nat Commun 2:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Vörösmarty CJ, Green P, Salisbury J, Lammers RB (2000) Global water resources: vulnerability from climate change and population growth. Science 289:284–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y (2016a) Modeling groundwater depletion at regional and global scales: present state and future prospects. Surv Geophys 37:419–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Bierkens MF (2014) Sustainability of global water use: past reconstruction and future projections. Environ Res Lett 9:104003

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, van Beek LP, van Kempen CM, Reckman JW, Vasak S, Bierkens MF (2010) Global depletion of groundwater resources. Geophys Res Lett 37:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Van Beek L, Bierkens MF (2011a) Modelling global water stress of the recent past: on the relative importance of trends in water demand and climate variability. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 15:3785–3808

    Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Van Beek L, Viviroli D, Dürr HH, Weingartner R, Bierkens MF (2011b) Global monthly water stress: 2. Water demand and severity of water stress. Water Resour Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Van Beek LPH, Bierkens MFP (2011c) Modelling global water stress of the recent past: on the relative importance of trends in water demand and climate variability. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 15:3785–3808. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-3785-2011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y, Wisser D, Bierkens M (2014) Global modeling of withdrawal, allocation and consumptive use of surface water and groundwater resources. Earth Syst Dyn 5:15–40. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-15-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada Y et al (2016) Modeling global water use for the 21st century: water futures and solutions (WFaS) initiative and its approaches. Geosci Model Dev 9:175–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahl KL (1991) Is April to July runoff really decreasing in the Western United States? In: Proceedings of the 59th annual meeting of the western snow conference, pp 67–78

  • Water U (2014) International decade for action, “Water for Life”, 2005–2015

  • Wichelns D (2001) The role of ‘virtual water’ in efforts to achieve food security and other national goals, with an example from Egypt. Agric Water Manag 49:131–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisser D, Frolking S, Douglas EM, Fekete BM, Vörösmarty CJ, Schumann AH (2008) Global irrigation water demand: variability and uncertainties arising from agricultural and climate data sets. Geophys Res Lett 35:20

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisser D, Frolking S, Douglas EM, Fekete BM, Schumann AH, Vörösmarty CJ (2010) The significance of local water resources captured in small reservoirs for crop production—a global-scale analysis. J Hydrol 384:264–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Zabel F, Mauser W (2013) 2-way coupling the hydrological land surface model PROMET with the regional climate model MM5. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 17:1705–1714

    Google Scholar 

  • Zabel F, Mauser W, Marke T, Pfeiffer A, Zängl G, Wastl C (2012) Inter-comparison of two land-surface models applied at different scales and their feedbacks while coupled with a regional climate model. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 16:1017–1031

    Google Scholar 

  • Zektser IS, Lorne E (2004) Groundwater resources of the world: and their use. In: IhP Series on groundwater, vol 6. UNESCO, Paris

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research is financially supported by the M.K.N. Johansen scholarship through the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne. We also thank the anonymous reviewers, the associate editor and the editor of the journal for their constructive comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Naveen Joseph, Dongryeol Ryu & Hector M. Malano

  2. Integrated Water and Land Management Program, ICARDA, Cairo, Egypt

    Biju George

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

    K. P. Sudheer

Authors
  1. Naveen Joseph
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dongryeol Ryu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hector M. Malano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Biju George
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. P. Sudheer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naveen Joseph.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Joseph, N., Ryu, D., Malano, H.M. et al. A review of the assessment of sustainable water use at continental-to-global scale. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 6, 18 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00379-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00379-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation