A water budget is a quantitative accounting framework that describes the balance between inputs, outputs, and storage changes of water within a defined system, such as a watershed, aquifer, soil profile, or climatic region. It is typically expressed as P + I + Gi = ET + R + Go + ΔS, where P is precipitation, I is artificial inputs (e.g., irrigation), Gi and Go are groundwater inflows and outflows, ET is evapotranspiration, R is surface runoff, and ΔS is change in water storage. Water budgets are fundamental in hydrology and climate studies for assessing resource availability, modeling fluxes, and evaluating impacts of land-use or climate change on hydrological regimes.
Water is at the heart of agriculture. Every stage of the food-growing process depends on having reliable access to water. However, water levels are declining in many rivers and aquifers that function as key resources for ...
Ecology
Jun 27, 2025
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Climate change is altering water availability—across the globe, and right on our doorstep. With a new interactive map, users can now see online how renewable water resources, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration ...
Environment
May 6, 2025
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Stretching from Montana to Missouri, the Missouri River basin is one of the country's largest river systems. Over the past century, its average streamflow has increased by about 40%, with multiple years since 1990 experiencing ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 18, 2025
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