Articles | Volume 20, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2179-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2179-2016
Review article
 | 
07 Jun 2016
Review article |  | 07 Jun 2016

A review of green- and blue-water resources and their trade-offs for future agricultural production in the Amazon Basin: what could irrigated agriculture mean for Amazonia?

Michael J. Lathuillière, Michael T. Coe, and Mark S. Johnson

Data sets

GeoNetwork ANA http://metadados.ana.gov.br/geonetwork/srv/pt/main.home

GlobCover Project: GlobCover 2009 (Global Land Cover Map) ESA http://due.esrin.esa.int/page_globcover.php

Banco de dados agregados IBGE http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/

Short summary
We apply the green- and blue-water perspective to Amazonia's water resources to highlight trade-offs that may arise with future land use change. We question how future irrigation may supply additional water vapour to the atmosphere with growing agricultural production. Maintaining precipitation recycling could prevent degradation of rainfall-dependent terrestrial ecosystems and has the potential to minimize blue-water trade-offs between up- and downstream water users within the Amazon Basin.