We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Evaporation Loss From Small Agricultural Reservoirs in a Warming Climate: An Overlooked Component of Water Accounting.
- Authors
Aminzadeh, Milad; Friedrich, Noemi; Narayanaswamy, Sankeerth; Madani, Kaveh; Shokri, Nima
- Abstract
Small agricultural reservoirs support water demands during dry spells. However, evaporative losses that are often overlooked in water accounting and management diminish the storage efficiency of these popular but un‐inventoried resources. We developed a predictive framework to identify the spatio‐temporal extent of small reservoirs (900–100,000 m2) and quantify their evaporative losses using a physically‐based model. Focusing on water‐stressed regions of Europe (Italy, Spain, and Portugal), our results indicate that the total number and cumulative area of small reservoirs in drier areas of Europe almost doubled in two decades from about 6,200 reservoirs with the cumulative area of 46 km2 in 2,000 to 11,800 reservoirs with the cumulative area of 93.5 km2 in 2020. We observed climate‐driven trends in the expansion of agricultural reservoirs and their evaporative losses which exceeded 72 million cubic meters during warm months (April to September) accounting for 38% of their total storage capacity. Plain Language Summary: Small agricultural reservoirs play a key role in supporting irrigation and local demands in a warming climate. However, evaporation diminishes their storage efficiency. We provide a physically‐based framework for estimating global abundance and evaporative losses from small reservoirs serving as a basis for improving water management and planning. To show the applicability of the proposed method, we focused on water‐stressed regions of Europe (Italy, Spain, and Portugal). We found that cumulative area of small reservoirs in the study area has reached to 93.5 km2 in 2020 with cumulative evaporative losses that may exceed 72 million cubic meters. The study offers new insights into the improved understanding of the role and efficiency of small water storage infrastructure in water planning strategies. Key Points: A physically‐based framework was proposed to identify the extent of small reservoirs (<0.1 km2) and quantify their evaporative lossesTotal number and cumulative area of small agricultural reservoirs in water‐stressed regions of southern Europe doubled in two decadesStrong correlations were found between expansion of agricultural reservoirs, air temperature and precipitation
- Subjects
PORTUGAL; ITALY; SPAIN; GLOBAL warming; AGRICULTURE; RESERVOIRS; WATER management; ENVIRONMENTAL infrastructure; WATER storage
- Publication
Earth's Future, 2024, Vol 12, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2328-4277
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2023EF004050