2010/05/24 by Peter H. Gleick, Meena Palaniappan · 3 citations
Energy · Engineering · Environmental Science · #Aquifer #Climate change #Ecology #Economics #Environmental science #Global Energy and Sustainability Research #Groundwater #Groundwater recharge #Natural resource #Natural resource economics #Non-renewable resource #Peak oil #Production (economics) #Renewable energy #Resource (disambiguation) #Sustainability #Water resource management #Water resources #Water resources management and optimization #Water scarcity #Water use #Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1004812107
openalex publication_date 2010/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Freshwater resources are fundamental for maintaining human health, agricultural production, economic activity as well as critical ecosystem functions. As populations and economies grow, new constraints on water resources are appearing, raising questions about limits to water availability. Such resource questions are not new. The specter of "peak oil"--a peaking and then decline in oil production--has long been predicted and debated. We present here a detailed assessment and definition of three concepts of "peak water": peak renewable water, peak nonrenewable water, and peak ecological water. These concepts can help hydrologists, water managers, policy makers, and the public understand and manage different water systems more effectively and sustainably. Peak renewable water applies where flow constraints limit total water availability over time. Peak nonrenewable water is observable in groundwater systems where production rates substantially exceed natural recharge rates and where overpumping or contamination leads to a peak of production followed by a decline, similar to more traditional peak-oil curves. Peak "ecological" water is defined as the point beyond which the total costs of ecological disruptions and damages exceed the total value provided by human use of that water. Despite uncertainties in quantifying many of these costs and benefits in consistent ways, more and more watersheds appear to have already passed the point of peak water. Applying these concepts can help shift the way freshwater resources are managed toward more productive, equitable, efficient, and sustainable use.