The delusive accuracy of global irrigation water withdrawal estimates

2022/06/08 by Arnald Puy, Razi Sheikholeslami, Hoshin V. Gupta +8 · 1 voice
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Biology #Business #Ecology #Economics #Environmental resource management #Environmental science #Geology #Hydrology (agriculture) #Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies #Irrigation #Natural resource economics #Water resource management #Water resources management and optimization #Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-30731-8

openalex publication_date 2022/06/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Miscalculating the volumes of water withdrawn for irrigation, the largest consumer of freshwater in the world, jeopardizes sustainable water management. Hydrological models quantify water withdrawals, but their estimates are unduly precise. Model imperfections need to be appreciated to avoid policy misjudgements.

Citations

• What is wrong with evidence based policy, and how can it be improved?
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Discussions

• An interesting related paper: -- The Delusive Accuracy Of Global Irrigation Water Withdrawal Estimates doi.org/10.1038/s414... [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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