Water shortages worsened by reservoir effects

Giuliano Di Baldassarre*, Niko Wanders, Amir AghaKouchak, Linda Kuil, Sally Rangecroft, Ted I.E. Veldkamp, Margaret Garcia, Pieter R. van Oel, Korbinian Breinl, Anne F. Van Loon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The expansion of reservoirs to cope with droughts and water shortages is hotly debated in many places around the world. We argue that there are two counterintuitive dynamics that should be considered in this debate: supply–demand cycles and reservoir effects. Supply–demand cycles describe instances where increasing water supply enables higher water demand, which can quickly offset the initial benefits of reservoirs. Reservoir effects refer to cases where over-reliance on reservoirs increases vulnerability, and therefore increases the potential damage caused by droughts. Here we illustrate these counterintuitive dynamics with global and local examples, and discuss policy and research implications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)617-622
Number of pages6
JournalNature Sustainability
Volume1
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Nov 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology
  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
  • Nature and Landscape Conservation
  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Urban Studies
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Food Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Water shortages worsened by reservoir effects'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this