Spatial distribution of annual mean water withdrawal by six sectors during 1971–2010. Source: Z. Huang et al.

Data on human water use trends is often available only on large space and time scales. To better inform Earth system models and global hydrologic models, an international research team compiled estimates of water withdrawals on a smaller scale.

The historical global monthly gridded water withdrawal data documented for surface areas of 0.5 × 0.5 degrees (50 km² or 30 sq mi) for 1971 to 2010 reflect water use for irrigation, domestic, electricity generation, livestock, mining and manufacturing sectors. The open access database shows that irrigation is the largest consumer of water, followed by power generation and domestic use.

The western U.S., eastern China and other regions supporting massive crop production were dominant irrigation water withdrawal areas during the study period. Urban and densely populated areas had the largest water withdrawals for manufacturing, power generation, domestic use and mining. Water withdrawal for electricity generation showed a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions.

Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Goethe University Frankfurt, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria) contributed to this research, which is published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.