ISCIENCES WORLDWIDE WATER WATCH LIST MARCH 2019

15 March 2019

This map presents a selection of regions likely to encounter significant water anomalies during the one year period beginning in December 2018 and running through November 2019 using 3 months of observed temperature and precipitation data and 9 months of forecast data.

The synopsis that follows provides highlights of regional water forecasts. Regional details are available in ISciences Global Water Monitor & Forecast March 15, 2019 (pdf).

UNITED STATES: Most notable in the forecast through May is the absence of widespread, intense water surpluses observed in the East in prior months and the emergence of surpluses in the West. Surpluses will shrink and downgrade in the center of the country but remain widespread in a broad path from southern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico and will be intense in Kansas. Moderate surpluses will cover much of California, and many Rocky Mountain States will transition from deficit to surplus.

CANADA: The major changes forecast through May are that exceptional water deficits will shrink in Quebec though large pockets will persist, and widespread surpluses in Northern Ontario will transition to deficit. As for major population areas, intense deficits are forecast for Southern Ontario and through southern Quebec; near Vancouver, British Columbia; near Winnipeg, Manitoba; and surrounding Regina, Saskatchewan. Deficits of varying intensity are forecast in many parts of the country. In British Columbia, surpluses will increase in the southeast and transition to deficit in the southwest.

MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICAN, & THE CARIBBEAN: The forecast through May indicates a patchwork of water anomalies. In Mexico, moderate to extreme deficits are forecast in Nayarit, Guerrero, Chiapas, and Yucatan. Conditions of both deficit and surplus are forecast from southern Durango southeast through Morelos. Regions forecast with surpluses include northern Coahuila, Nuevo León, southern Tamaulipas, eastern San Luis Potosí, Distrito Federal, and northern Oaxaca into central Veracruz. Exceptional deficits are expected in western Panama, and moderate deficits in Dominican Republic.

SOUTH AMERICA: The forecast through May indicates that water deficits in Brazil will shrink and downgrade significantly, though intense deficits are forecast for eastern Minas Gerais, Espíritu Santo, and São Paulo. Surpluses will emerge in northeastern states and will moderate but increase in the south. Exceptional deficits are forecast for Suriname and French Guiana, and deficits of varying intensity for Brazil’s northern neighbors, and Peru, Chile, eastern Bolivia, and Argentina. Surpluses will shrink in northern Bolivia, downgrade in central Paraguay, and moderate in northeastern Argentina and Uruguay.

EUROPE: The forecast through May indicates an increase in the extent of water deficits overall. Though surpluses are forecast for Austria, Switzerland, Norway, and northwestern Sweden, much of the rest of Europe can expect deficit conditions. Exceptional deficits will persist in Finland, southern Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, eastern Slovenia, and Croatia. Severe deficits will be widespread in Portugal, Spain, France, and Hungary. Pockets of intense deficit are forecast for many other regions.

AFRICA: The forecast through May indicates that water deficits will downgrade, with moderate anomalies throughout most of the continent, some pockets of greater intensity, and surpluses in Tanzania. Exceptional deficits are forecast in the Ethiopian Highlands. Other areas of significant deficit include Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, central Republic of the Congo, eastern Angola, western Zambia and central Zambia and along the Zambezi River, and northern Zimbabwe.

MIDDLE EAST: The forecast through May indicates that water deficits will downgrade considerably, though an intense pocket will persist around Kuwait and deficits will be severe in Yemen. Surpluses will downgrade overall but exceptional surpluses are forecast for northern Syria; near Mosul, Iraq; along Iran’s Caspian Sea coast northeast of Tehran; and in Khuzestan, Iran.

CENTRAL ASIA & RUSSIA: The forecast through May indicates that water surpluses in Russia’s Ob River Basin will downgrade but remain widespread. Other areas of surplus include eastern Kyrgyzstan, western Tajikistan, and southern Turkmenistan. Deficits are forecast for the Volga River Basin, the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan and into Kyrgyzstan, central Tajikistan, and southern Kazakhstan. Deficits will be intense in the Fergana Valley.

SOUTH ASIA: The forecast through May indicates that exceptional water deficits will shrink in southern India but are expected along the Tungabhadra River through Karnataka and in northern Kerala. Moderate deficits are forecast from Gujarat to Andhra Pradesh, and more intense pockets in Madhya Pradesh. Areas of surplus include northern India and the Gangetic Plain, Bangladesh, Nepal, northern Pakistan and the Indus River system, and Afghanistan.

SOUTHEAST ASIA & THE PACIFIC: The forecast through May indicates that exceptional deficits will shrink in Cambodia and Thailand, but deficits will remain widespread and severe deficits will emerge in northern Thailand. Intense deficits will emerge in southern Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula, northern Sumatra, central Laos, southern Vietnam, Philippines, and northeastern Borneo. Deficits will persist in Papua New Guinea. Areas of surplus include western Myanmar, Indonesian Borneo and Java.

EAST ASIA: The forecast through May indicates the emergence of a vast stretch of extreme to exceptional water deficits in southern and eastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. Widespread surpluses will downgrade but persist in the Yangtze Basin’s Lower Reaches and in the southern portion of the Middle Reaches. Moderate deficits will emerge in Hainan and conditions in Taiwan will transition to near-normal. Intense deficits will emerge on the Korean Peninsula and will increase in much of Japan.

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: The forecast through May indicates that the widespread, exceptional water deficits that have dominated Australia in prior months will diminish considerably. However, exceptional deficits are forecast in the far north and in northern South Australia. Severe deficits are forecast in eastern Queensland and extreme anomalies in the Northern Tableland of New South Wales. Intense deficits are also forecast for Tasmania, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.

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