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Hydrology

When wells run dry

Nature volume 516, pages 179–180 (2014)Cite this article

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A global analysis reveals growing societal dependence on the use of non-renewable freshwater resources that depletes groundwater reserves and undermines human resilience to water scarcity in a warming world.

That freshwater reserves are in decline in many parts of the world is not only of great scientific interest, but of profound societal concern. Reports of groundwater depletion1,2 and declining river and lake levels3 provide compelling evidence of regional freshwater use exceeding its renewable supply. Quantifying freshwater supply and use around the world is, however, a substantial technical challenge. In one of the most comprehensive analyses so far, published in Environmental Research Letters, Wada and Bierkens4 estimate the supply and use of fresh water from 1960 to 2099. They use both historical records and future projections that include substantial demographic and climate-related changes expected this century. Their analyses reveal a steady rise in the non-renewable use of fresh water in many parts of the world that should be of global concern.

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Figure 1: Historical and projected groundwater withdrawals in the world's major irrigating countries.

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  1. Richard Taylor is in the Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,

    Richard Taylor

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  1. Richard Taylor
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Correspondence to Richard Taylor.

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Taylor, R. When wells run dry. Nature 516, 179–180 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/516179a

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