Green water management handbook: rainwater harvesting for agricultural production and ecological sustainability

Since the dawn of civilization the human race has recognized the importance of rainfall as the primary source of water to sustain life. Unlike many of the world’s resources, water is renewable (Table 1) . Water evaporates from the oceans, seas and land into the atmosphere as vapour (Fig. 1, Box 1). From the atmosphere, rain falls on the land, and eventually finds its way back to the oceans. The volume of water on the move in this way has been estimated as 520,000 km 3 (cubic kilometres) a year, of which 412,000 km 3 returns to the oceans as direct precipitation and 108,000 km 3 falls on land .

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