ISciences Worldwide Water Watch List September 2016

September 14, 2016

Watching: United States and Canada; Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean; South America; Europe; Africa; Middle East; Central Asia and Russia; South Asia; East Asia; Southeast Asia and the Pacific; Australia.

This map presents a selection of regions likely to encounter significant water anomalies during the one year period beginning in June 2016 and running through May 2017 using 3 months of observed temperature and precipitation data and 9 months of forecast data.

Regional details are available in ISciences' Global Water Monitor & Forecast September 14, 2016 [revised September 19, 2016] (pdf).

United States and Canada: The outlook for the United States through November indicates the persistence of widespread extreme water deficits throughout the eastern US and moderate deficits in the West. A large pocket of surpluses is forecast along the Upper Mississippi River, encompassing southern Minnesota, much of Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, and northern Illinois. From December through February deficits across the US are forecast to diminish, though moderate to severe deficits will persist on the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, eastern Virginia, and Florida. Surpluses will persist in Minnesota and Wisconsin and will continue to emerge southward. The final quarter of the forecast period indicates water surpluses throughout the Rocky Mountain States, especially along rivers.

The outlook for Canada indicates large pockets of exceptional water deficits persisting in northern Manitoba and central Quebec through November which will diminish in extent and severity thereafter. Mostly moderate deficits are expected in Southern Ontario from London to Ottawa through November. Surpluses are forecast to emerge in the southwest corner of Northern Ontario from Kenora north and persist through February. Surpluses are also forecast for southern British Columbia through May.

Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean: Water deficits on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula are forecast to diminish by November. Deficits in southern Mexico – reaching from Michoacán in the west to Tabasco on the Gulf of Mexico – will persist through May. Deficits are also forecast in Haiti through November, and Guatemala and El Salvador through May. Surpluses are forecast from Nicaragua to Panama through November but should diminish thereafter.

South America: South America is forecast to transition away from widespread exceptional water deficits in December. However, from September through November exceptional deficits are forecast across northern Brazil along with moderate deficits reaching southward to Rio de Janeiro. Severe to exceptional deficits are forecast near Caracas, Venezuela; western Bolivia; Chile; rivers in southern Argentina; and the Falkland Islands. Surpluses are forecast in eastern Paraguay, and Paraná and Santa Catarina, Brazil. Overall, water deficit conditions will continue to diminish in extent and severity from December through May.

Europe: For the next three months water deficits will continue to dominate much of Europe, and though the severity will diminish the extent will increase. Surpluses are forecast for European Russia. After November, water surpluses will emerge across Northern Europe, European Russia from St. Petersburg to the White Sea, and in the Volga Basin.

Africa: Though the extent of exceptional water deficits in Africa is forecast to shrink from September through November, much of the continent will remain in conditions of deficit. Surpluses are forecast to persist in Burkina Faso, Northwest Province in Cameroon, southern Sudan, eastern South Sudan, and Tanzania during this period. From December through February nearly all of Africa is forecast to experience some degree of water deficit, though less severe than in prior months. Primarily moderate deficits are forecast from the northernmost countries down through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with only mild deficits forecast in southern Africa.

Middle East: Water deficits are forecast to become less severe from September through November in southern Turkey, the Levant, northern Saudi Arabia, and eastern Oman. However, the extent and severity of deficits will increase in southern Iraq, Iran, Qatar, and Yemen. The progression of water anomalies forecast in the Middle East indicates that widespread water deficits will persist through May, diminishing after October before becoming more severe again from March on.

Central Asia and Russia: Widespread water deficits in Russia from Arkhangelsk through the Central Siberian Plateau are forecast to persist, though the extent of exceptional deficits will diminish in the next few months. Water surpluses in Kazakhstan will begin to transition to conditions of both deficits and surpluses. Surpluses are expected to continue to emerge in the Volga River Basin through February, and in Kyrgyzstan through May.

South Asia: Water surpluses are forecast to continue to emerge through May in India from southern Rajasthan along the Chambal River and its tributaries, eastward to the Yamuna River, to the Ganges River, and into Bangladesh. Surpluses are also forecast for Myanmar’s western coast through November and in Bangladesh through May. Deficits in southern India are forecast to become less severe after November, but deficits will emerge in Assam and surrounding states in the northeast. Deficits will persist in Gujarat through May becoming more severe from December on.

Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Exceptional water deficits are forecast to persist in Cambodia through May. From September through November deficits will continue to emerge in Thailand and the eastern half of Luzon, Philippines. Surpluses are forecast in Laos, western Flores Island, Vietnam, Sumatra, Java, North Kalimantan, West Papua, and northern Luzon. By December, however, much of the region will begin to transition to water deficits of varying severity which will persist through May.

East Asia: Water surpluses in the Yangtze Basin are forecast to diminish in extent from September through November, while to the south surpluses in the Pearl River basin will increase. Water deficits are expected to increase from the Shandong Peninsula westward to the Tibetan Plateau, and deficits are also forecast for Shanghai. Elsewhere in the region deficits are forecast in Taiwan and South Korea during this period; surpluses are forecast for Hokkaido, Japan. From December through February surpluses along the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers will continue to shrink.

Australia: Water deficits are forecast to persist through May in Tasmania, the southwestern tip of Western Australia, and from Adelaide through Victoria, though deficits of exceptional severity will diminish considerably in extent. Surpluses are forecast for central Queensland and parts of the Murray-Darling Basin through November. Far north reaches of Australia are expected to transition from deficit to moderate surplus from December through February.

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