The WATCH results provide the first assessment of the global hydrological cycle on a daily timeframe at 50 km grid scale resolution for the past (20th Century) and future (21st Century), as well as a new global analysis of water scarcity.

The WATCH findings – including new data sets, maps, methods and models – are expected to provide a lasting legacy which will be used to analyse, predict and manage water resources, floods and droughts worldwide.

The four-year, €13 million programme, funded by the European Union’s Framework Programme 6, was coordinated by scientists at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the UK. The project brought together a team of 100 climate scientists and hydrological researchers from 25 research centres in 14 European countries.

‘WATCH has produced the most extensive analysis ever of future water resources for the entire world, confirming that the hydrological cycle is changing,’ comments WATCH coordinator Dr Richard Harding, at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

‘WATCH has shown that although there is still substantial uncertainty in our modelling of the future water cycle, as we develop understanding of the driving processes, we will be able to make more confident assessments for the future.’

In addition to scientific outputs and the release of data, an outreach portal and educational website have been created to allow researchers, policymakers and the general public to learn more about the global water cycle. Rainfall, soil moisture, evapotranspiration rates and river catchment data are presented in 3D maps, with 18 of the world’s biggest river systems covered in detail.

‘To manage water resources successfully over the next five to ten years, you need to start making changes now,’ adds Richard Harding. ‘The lasting legacy of the results from WATCH will be to make this process easier.’