Abstract
Endorheic basins (i.e., land-locked drainage networks) and their lakes can be highly sensitive to variations in climate and adverse anthropogenic activities, such as overexploitation of water resources. In this review paper, we provide a brief overview of one major endorheic basin on each continent, plus a number of endorheic basins in Central Asia (CA), a region where a large proportion of the land area is within this type of basin. We summarize the effects of (changing) climate drivers and land surface–atmosphere feedbacks on the water balance. For the CA region, we also discuss key anthropogenic activities, related water management approaches and their complex relationship with political and policy issues. In CA a substantial increase in irrigated agriculture coupled with negative climate change impacts have disrupted the fragile water balance for many endorheic basins and their lakes. Transboundary integrated land and water management approaches must be developed to facilitate adequate climate change adaptation and possible mitigation of the adverse anthropogenic influence on endorheic basins in CA. Suitable climate adaptation, mitigation and efficient natural resource management technologies and methods are available, and are developing fast. A number of these are discussed in the paper, but these technologies alone are not sufficient to address pressing water resource issues in CA. Food–water–energy nexus analyses demonstrate that transboundary endorheic basin management requires transformational changes with involvement of all key stakeholders. Regional programs, supported by local governments and international donors, which incorporate advanced adaptation technologies, water resource research and management capacity development, are essential for successful climate change adaptation efforts in CA. However, there is a need for an accelerated uptake of such programs, with an emphasis on unification of approaches, as the pressures resulting from climate change and aggravated by human mismanagement of natural water resources leave very little time for hesitation.
Highlights
Aim of thisPaper through water percolation underground and evapotranspiration [2]. The level of evapotranspiration
Endorheic basins and their lakes can be highly sensitive to variations in climate and adverse anthropogenic activities, such as overexploitation of water resources
Lake Chad, located south of the Sahel zone, is the largest African endorheic basin, with its drainage area amounting to around 2,500,000 km2
Summary
Paper through water percolation underground and evapotranspiration [2]. The level of evapotranspiration. We first provide a brief overview of one large and important endorheic (ET), which is the sum of evaporation (open water, soil, snow and ice sublimation and canopy basin on each continent (see Table 1). We consider the CA region, the focus of our paper, its key arid and semi-arid areas, mostbasins of these areFinally, located.weIndiscuss contrast to water endorheic endorheic basins and where how these are basins affectedand by lakes climate. Key systems, exorheic systems are connected to the sea; typically, these basins have relatively abundant resource research and management issues in the context of climate change and anthropogenic precipitation balanced. 1. The endorheic basins related lakes theworld. These endorheic basins are located mostly in intracontinental arid regions (Figure 1), with basin outlets ending in lakes. Varis and Kummu [4] reported that about 6% of the world’s population lives in endorheic river basins where discharge constitutes less than 2% of the total land–river discharge
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