Water scarcity assessments in the past, present, and future

Water scarcity has become a major constraint to socio-economic development and a threat to livelihood in increasing parts of the world. Since the late 1980s, water scarcity research has attracted much political and public attention. We here review a variety of indicators that have been developed to capture different characteristics of water scarcity. Population, water availability and water use are the key elements of these indicators. Most of the progress made in the last few decades has been on the quantification of water availability and use by applying spatially explicit models. However, challenges remain on appropriate incorporation of green water (soil moisture), water quality, environmental flow…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 91325302, 2015ZX07203-005, 41571022, 91425303, 41625001
• NS
  National Science and Technology Major Project

  Award: 2015ZX07203-005