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Abstract:

Water renewal is an essential cycle which depends directly on climate conditions, especially in the drought regions. Monthly and annual potential evapotranspiration (ET0) together with the actual evapotranspiration (AET0) have been used here to find water availability at a spatial scale in Turkey. Two climate models at a very high spatial resolution for 2011-2040 (present) and 2041-2070 (future) were considered to carry out the areas with high water availability and areas with water deficit. The maximum monthly ET0 reaches a value of 275 mm in July in the present period while in the future, the monthly ET0 reaches a value of 317 mm in July and August. Increase in the annual ET0 from 1288 mm to 1495 mm indicates a negative climate change on land-atmosphere exchanges. Even if the annual AET0 decreases between present and future from 901 mm to 896 mm, the water availability indicates an important decrease from 1446 mm year^-1 to 1263 mm year^-1 in these two periods. The most affected areas are located in central Turkey, mainly in the Anatolian Plateau where the water availability falls below 50 mm, in European Turkey, western coastal sides, and in the northwestern extremity of the country. The main implications of the spatial distribution of water availability and its amount could affect both surface and groundwater resources directly and indirectly affect agriculture and related activities in Turkey.