A Precipitation Recycling Network to Assess Freshwater Vulnerability: Challenging the Watershed Convention.

ABSTRACT: Water resources and water scarcity are usually regarded as local aspects for which a watershed-based management appears adequate. However, precipitation, as a main source of freshwater, may depend on moisture supplied through land evaporation from outside the watershed. This notion of evaporation as a local "green water" supply to precipitation is typically not considered in hydrological water assessments. Here we propose the concept of a watershed precipitation recycling network, which establishes atmospheric pathways and links land surface evaporation as a moisture supply to precipitation, hence contributing to local but also remote freshwater resources. Our results show that up to 74% of summer precipitation over European watersheds depends on moisture supplied from other watersh

SUBMITTER: Keune J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6988470 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature