Using satellite data from more than 7,000 global reservoirs, Texas A&M researchers found that while total storage capacity has increased, the filling rate is lower than expected.
Water is an essential and indispensable component of humanity’s everyday existence. As the global population grows and the climate warms, so does the water demand. Over the past two decades, global reservoirs have become increasingly empty despite an overall increase in total storage capacity due to the construction of new reservoirs.
Led by Dr. Huilin Gao, associate professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University, researchers used a new approach with satellite data to estimate the storage variations of 7,245 global reservoirs from 1999 to 2018. The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications.
Overall, global reservoir storage increased at an annual rate of 28 cubic kilometers, attributed to the construction of new reservoirs. However, despite these efforts, the data reveals that the rate of reservoir filling is lower than anticipated.
Read more at Texas A&M University
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