Metrics of water scarcity and stress have evolved over the last three decades from simple threshold indicators to holistic measures characterising human environments and freshwater sustainability. Metrics commonly estimate renewable freshwater resources using mean annual river runoff, which masks hydrological variability, and quantify subjectively socio-economic conditions characterising adapti...

Saudi Arabia (SA) faces a water shortage, and it further challenges sustainable agriculture, industrial development the well-being of people. SA uses more than 80% its resources for agricultural purposes. Groundwater extractions account most this demand, which is not sustainable. Hence, study aims to analyze management practices used in propose viable workable solutions achieve scarce resources...

Chile contains some of the driest areas in the world, yet human activities in these areas require large volumes of water, the result is regions experiencing high water scarcity leading to environmental degradation, conflicts and reduced industrial productivity. The aim of this paper was to quantify the water scarcity in the central and northern regions by calculating the water scarcity index—th...

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by c...

The food supply is being increasingly challenged by climate change and water scarcity. However, incremental changes in traditional cropping systems have achieved only limited success in meeting these multiple challenges. In this study, we applied a systematic approach, using model simulation and data from two groups of field studies conducted in the North China Plain, to develop a new cropping ...

Water is the most limiting factor for plant growth and crop productivity (Kramer, 1983), and water-deficit stress adversely affects crop growth and yield throughout the world (Boyer, 1982). Crop yields are being reduced by drought and the increasing scarcity of water for irrigation, and changing world climatic trends may increase the severity of the problem (Le Houerou, 1996). Water availabilit...