Sectoral contributions to surface water stress in the coterminous United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544985 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristen Averyt (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, corresponding author), James R Meldrum (0000-0001-5250-3759, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences), J Meldrum, Peter V Caldwell (0000-0003-0537-3546, US Forest Service), P Caldwell, Ge Sun (0000-0002-0159-1370, US Forest Service), Steven G McNulty (0000-0003-4518-5646, US Forest Service), S McNulty, Annette Huber‐Lee (0000-0002-9897-5492, Tufts University), A Huber-Lee, N Madden (Union of Concerned Scientists) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 035046-035046 |
| Publication date | 2013-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035046 |
| OpenAlex | W2077161271 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 20 |
Here, we assess current stress in the freshwater system based on the best available data in order to understand possible risks and vulnerabilities to regional water resources and the sectors dependent on freshwater. We present watershed-scale measures of surface water supply stress for the coterminous United States (US) using the water supply stress index (WaSSI) model which considers regional trends in both water supply and demand. A snapshot of contemporary annual water demand is compared against different water supply regimes, including current average supplies, current extreme-year supplies, and projected future average surface water flows under a changing climate. In addition, we investigate the contributions of different water demand sectors to current water stress. On average, water supplies are stressed, meaning that demands for water outstrip natural supplies in over 9% of the 2103 watersheds examined. These watersheds rely on reservoir storage, conveyance systems, and groundwater to meet current water demands. Overall, agriculture is the major demand-side driver of water stress in the US, whereas municipal stress is isolated to southern California. Water stress introduced by cooling water demands for power plants is punctuated across the US, indicating that a single power plant has the potential to stress water supplies at the watershed scale. On the supply side, watersheds in the western US are particularly sensitive to low flow events and projected long-term shifts in flow driven by climate change. The WaSSI results imply that not only are water resources in the southwest in particular at risk, but that there are also potential vulnerabilities to specific sectors, even in the ‘water-rich’ southeast
Agronomy · Stress (linguistics · Water stress · Environmental Science · Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies · Water resources management and optimization · Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
Exposure of urban food–energy–water (FEW) systems to water scarcity
Small-scale catchment analysis of water stress in wet regions of the U.S
The importance of infrastructure and national demand to represent constraints on water supply in the United States
Water and climate risks to power generation with carbon capture and storage
Assessing urban water-energy nexus characteristics in China and the US
Climate-informed environmental inflows to revive a drying lake facing meteorological and anthropogenic droughts
Climate storylines of annual heatwave patterns in a 3 °C warmer continental USA
Water usage in cooling systems for electricity production
The environmental footprint of data centers in the United States
The water implications of generating electricity
Mapping water availability, projected use and cost in the western United States
Global analysis of urban surface water supply vulnerability
Regional responses to future, demand-driven water scarcity
Vulnerabilities and opportunities at the nexus of electricity, water and climate
Mapping water availability, cost and projected consumptive use in the eastern United States with comparisons to the west
Water and urbanization
Water supply as a constraint on transmission expansion planning in the Western interconnection
Years of California’s water rights system
Unpacking the urban virtual water of the Global South
The U.S. food–energy–water system
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,43 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |