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The current study presents an assessment of the impact of climate change on water yield, one of the main hydrological ecosystem services, in northern Patagonia. The outputs of regional climate models from the CORDEX Project for South America were used to drive the InVEST water yield model. CORDEX regional climate models project for the far future (2071–2100) an increase in temperature higher than 1.5 °C and a precipitation decrease ranging from − 10 to − 30% for the study area. The projected warmer and dryer climate emerges as a robust signal based on model agreement and on consistent physical drivers of these changes. Moreover, both the projected increase in evapotranspiration and the decrease in precipitation contribute to a strong decrease in water yield of around − 20 to − 40% in the headwaters of northern Patagonian watersheds. Comparison of the results in the two basins reveals that the land cover may be considered a buffer of water yield changes and highlights the key role of protected areas in reducing the vulnerability of water resources to climate change.

Climate and land use changes are critical factors affecting watershed water yields, with significant implications for water resources at both local and regional levels. This study examined the combined effects of temporal and spatial climate variability and land use/land cover (LULC) changes on surface water yield and availability in the Gilgel Gibe watershed, Ethiopia, from 1993 to 2023. Utilizing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) hydrological models, machine learning, and remote sensing techniques, this study assessed variations in water resources and their impacts on basin water yield. This study utilized Landsat (30 m), MODIS (500 m–1 km), and 4 km resolution climate datasets from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA POWER for large-scale climate and land-use analyses from 1993 to 2023. An ensemble of machine learning models, including Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and XGBoost (XGB), were used to evaluate the effects of climate variability and land use on annual water yield. The study revealed significant land cover changes over a 30-year period. Shrubland decreased from 1,108.37 km 2 (21.54%) in 1993 to 295.22 km 2 (5.74%) in 2023. Grasslands and wetlands also showed declining trends. In contrast, water bodies increased from 12.51 km 2 (0.24%) to 41.57 km 2 (0.81%), primarily due to the construction of the Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric dam, and forested areas slightly decreased from 626.73 km 2 (12.18%) to 534.18 km 2 (10.38%). The surface runoff decreased to 15.78% in 2021 and 15.28% in 2022, whereas the water yield dropped from 1.22% in 1993 to 0.83% by 2023. This study also showed a reduction in lateral flow and higher evapotranspiration levels in 2000 and 2017. The decrease in runoff can be attributed to the loss of wetlands and grasslands, reduced precipitation, and regulatory effects of hydropower operations. In contrast, elevated evapotranspiration levels were primarily attributed to temperature extremes, vegetation stress, and potential increases in irrigation practices. These findings underscore the importance of climatic elements in regulating river discharge and the necessity for smart land use planning to prevent negative environmental consequences on water resources.

Changes in climatic variables like precipitation and the rapid development of anthropogenic activities have the potential to affect both groundwater and surface water. It is specifically observable in the non-perennial river like the Damodar, where, despite the construction of dams, flooding is a recurring problem. This study aims to evaluate the changes in the annual water yield of the DRR using the ‘annual water yield’ module of the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The inputs of the model were derived from different remote sensing datasets using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The results indicate a lower annual water yield in 2023 (mean 1036 mm) and a higher yield in 2013 (mean 1426 mm), compared to 2003 (mean 1219 mm). Reduced vegetation cover (reduced by 5500 km 2 ), reduced area of waterbodies (471 km 2 ), and increased urbanisation (built-up areas increased by 700 km 2 ) were observed between 2003 and 2023 in the DRR. The sensitivity analysis of the model revealed that precipitation is a more influential factor than evapotranspiration when simulating water yield. The effect of changing land use was found to have very little or no effect on the annual water yield. This study also demonstrates a coupled framework for building hydrological resilience in the DRR by integrating three subsystems – namely, the water subsystem, the human subsystem and the socio-hydrological system.

Assessing the water yield function of a river basin is crucial for hydrological ecosystem protection. This research took the Nansihu River Basin as a case and evaluated its water yield from 2000 to 2022. The results showed that: (1) Water yield decreased 33.51% over the 20 years, from 369.91 mm to 220.06 mm, with the peak occurring in 2005. Both precipitation and evapotranspiration were positively correlated with water yield and exhibited similar trends and spatial distributions. (2) Water yield declined from the eastern mountainous areas to the western plains, with significant reductions ranging from − 200 to -100 mm in the western plains, while the central area remained stable. (3) Climatic factors significantly impacted water yield, and LULC determined its distribution. Non-natural areas produce three times the water yield of natural areas. These results are instrumental in guiding water resource management strategies within the basin.

In North China, the exploitation of deep coal seams is seriously threatened by water inrush from Ordovician limestone. Predicting the water yield property of the Ordovician limestone aquifer has been an important and challenging task. Based on accessible geological and hydrological data, a water yield property index (WYPI) model, which integrated four factors including the water inflow of borehole, fault impact factor, drilling fluid consumption and burial depth of the Ordovician top aquifer, was proposed for predicting the spatial distribution of the water yield property of the upper Majiagou group limestone in the Ordovician top (Ordovician top aquifer) in the Xinwen coalfield, Shandong, China. The grey relative analysis (GRA) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) methods were combined to objectively determine the weights of each factor. Then, the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution and the weights calculated by the GRA and FAHP were used to establish the WYPI model. The water yield property zone map, which was built using the WYPI values, displayed three water yield property zones. The WYPI model was further verified by taking into account practical engineering data, which were considered effective in predicting the zonation of the water yield property of the Ordovician top aquifer in the Xinwen coalfield, Shandong, China.

The hydrological system of a watershed is intricately influenced by both underlying characteristics and climate conditions. Understanding the variability in water yield is essential for effective water resources management and water security in the context of changing environments. In this study, we adopted the Budyko framework and leveraged simulations from the CMIP6 model to investigate the compensation effects of climate and underlying characteristics on watershed water yield. Based on Taylor expansion and Budyko framework, we estimated the sensitivity of watershed water yield to climate and underlying characteristics (the first-and second-order partial derivatives). By combining external watershed characteristics (e.g., water yield ratios and underlying characteristics) with internal sensitivity coefficients, this study further used vine copula and principal component analysis to quantify the stability of watershed water yield. Our findings show: (1) Water-yield changes related to underlying characteristics could be offset by climate-related water-yield changes across all climate zones, maintaining the water yield ratio steady (i.e., the compensation effects). (2) However, global watersheds will turn more sensitive to underlying characteristics and less sensitive to climate variation in the future. Both climate- and underlying-related sensitivities increase in watersheds with arid climates. (3) The stability of watershed water yield will gradually diminish in the future. From 1901~~1950 to 2051~~2100, the global stability of 280 watersheds drops from 0.054 to 0.021 (i.e., stability index identified by the joint probability). Particularly, the largest change in stability of water yield reaches −0.347±0.18 in arid regions. In semi-arid, semi-humid, and humid regions, the changes are −0.039±0.010, −0.028±0.005, and −0.005±0.002, respectively. The findings provide a reference for the future sustainable water resources development under climate change, highlighting the vulnerability of the water resources in arid and semi-arid watersheds.

Bed-separation water inrush (BSWI) is a new type of coal mine disaster that has caused serious damage. The shortcomings of previous studies on this topic are as follows: 1) most studies focused on the BSWI mechanism, evolution, and control methods, and there is a lack of research on BSWI risk assessment methods and 2) previous risk assessment studies ignored the factors of the water yield property. First, based on the proposed BSWI engineering geological model, three first-order factors are proposed: 1) separation space between layers, 2) water production characteristics, and 3) water resistance effect. Then, eight secondary factors are determined: 1) production thickness (MT), 2) hard rock thickness (HRT), 3) improved lithology index (ILCI), 4) core recovery (CR), 5) aquifer depth (AD), 6) drilling fluid consumption (DFC), 7) protective layer thickness (PLT), and 8) self-healing potential index (SPI). Subsequently, the corresponding weights are calculated, and the multifactor superposition method is used to draw the BSWI risk map. The area is divided into three risk grades: low, medium, and high. The results are validated by observations of BSWI accidents and bed-separation water exploration and discharge boreholes in the study area. The proposed method can be used to effectively prevent BSWI disasters in other coal mines with similar geological conditions.

The water source area of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is an important water conservation and ecological protection area in China. Based on remote sensing data, this paper analyzed the evolution process of land use/cover change in water source region in the past 35 years. Then, based on the InVEST model, the spatial-temporal patterns of water yield in the water source region were calculated with land use cover, meteorology and soil data as inputs. The impacts of climate factors such as precipitation and temperature and land use change on water yield were discussed, and the responses of water yield to these two changes were also discussed. The results show that from 1985 to 2020, the average water yield depth in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project increases first and then decreases, from 615 mm in 1985 to 738 mm in 2000, and then decreases to 521 mm in 2020. The spatial heterogeneity of the water-producing capacity is obvious. The high value of the water-producing capacity is concentrated in the Daba Mountain area in the south, while the low values are concentrated in the Hanzhong Basin, Ankang Basin and the eastern plain area. The spatial pattern of water producing depth has no obvious change. The average water yield depth of forest, grassland and shrub in the region was the largest, and forest and cultivated land were the main contributors to the total water yield of the region, providing 82% and 14% of the total water yield in 2020. Precipitation has a significant effect on water yield, while land use/cover change has a small effect on water yield.

Scheduling of irrigation and fertilizer dose is crucial for the sustainable production of cabbage. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of irrigation and fertilizer schedule on cabbage yield during the Rabi season of 2015-16 and 2016-17 on a non-saline coastal soil of eastern India. The treatment comprised three different irrigation frequencies (I1: eight irrigations, I2: four irrigations, I3: three irrigations) and three different levels of fertilizer (F1: 100% RDF, F2: 75% RDF, F3: 50% RDF). The results revealed that all the growth, yield parameters and head yield (37.37 t ha−1) were significantly higher in treatment I2F1. The highest yield of 43.03 t ha−1 at 340 mm irrigation water was predicted from the water-yield production functional model. Maximum CWP and IWP (15.07 and 19.08 kg m−3, respectively) were recorded in the highest irrigation interval supplemented with 100% RDF (I3F1). A maximum fertilizer use efficiency of 309.4 kg kg−1 of nutrient applied was obtained with moderate irrigation coupled with 50% RDF (I2F3). Soil depths of 0–30 and 30–60 cm accounted for 87.3% and 12.7% of the total soil moisture extraction, respectively. The highest residual available NPK in soil was found in treatment I2F1, while the lowest amount was recorded in I3F3. The maximum economic benefit (BCR; benefit-cost ratio) (4.51) was recorded under I2F1 treatment, whereas, treatment I3F3 observed the minimum BCR value (3.37). We recommend that four-irrigation scheduling complemented with 100% RDF could be the most effective and remunerative for the cabbage growers of non-saline coastal soils of eastern India under limited water supply conditions.

Spatial and quantitative assessments of water yield services in watershed ecosystems are necessary for water resource management and improved water ecological protection. In this study, we used the InVEST model to estimate regional water yield in the Dongjiang Lake Basin in China. Moreover, we designed six scenarios to explore the impacts of climate and land use/land cover (LULC) changes on regional water yield and quantitatively determined the dominant mechanisms of water yield services. The results are expected to provide an important theoretical reference for future spatial planning and improvements of ecological service functions at the water source site. We found that (1) under the time series analysis, the water yield changes of the Dongjiang Lake Basin showed an initial decrease followed by an increase. Spatially, water yield also decreased from the lake area to the surrounding region. (2) Climate change exerted a more significant impact on water yield changes, contributing more than 98.26% to the water yield variability in the basin. In contrast, LULC had a much smaller influence, contributing only 1.74 %. (3) The spatial distribution pattern of water yield services in the watershed was more vulnerable to LULC changes. In particular, the expansion of built-up land is expected to increase the depth of regional water yield and alter its distribution, but it also increases the risk of waterlogging. Therefore, future development in the basin must consider the protection of ecological spaces and maintain the stability of the regional water yield function.