articleNature WaterJan 10, 2025HYBRID OA

Decoupling of surface water storage from precipitation in global drylands due to anthropogenic activity

GZGang ZhaoHGHuilin GaoYLYao LiQTQiuhong TangRIR. Iestyn Woolway

Carnegie Institution for Science · Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research · +5 more institutions

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Abstract

Abstract The availability of surface water in global drylands is essential for both human society and ecosystems. However, the long-term drivers of change in surface water storage, particularly those related to anthropogenic activities, remain unclear. Here we use multi-mission remote sensing data to construct monthly time series of water storage changes from 1985 to 2020 for 105,400 lakes and reservoirs in global drylands. An increase of 2.20 km 3 per year in surface water storage is found primarily due to the construction of new reservoirs. For lakes and old reservoirs (constructed before 1983), conversely, the trend in storage is minor when aggregated globally, but they dominate surface water storage trends…

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56
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8

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Decoupling (probability)
  • Precipitation
  • Environmental science
  • Water storage
  • Surface water
  • Climatology
  • Environmental engineering
  • Hydrology (agriculture)
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