eprintid: 10156393 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/15/63/93 datestamp: 2022-09-29 10:10:56 lastmod: 2022-09-29 10:10:56 status_changed: 2022-09-29 10:10:56 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Shamsudduha, Mohammad creators_name: Taylor, Richard G creators_name: Haq, Md Izazul creators_name: Nowreen, Sara creators_name: Zahid, Anwar creators_name: Ahmed, Kazi Matin Uddin title: The Bengal Water Machine: Quantified freshwater capture in Bangladesh ispublished: pub divisions: C03 divisions: F26 divisions: B03 divisions: UCL divisions: C06 divisions: ZZ3 divisions: B04 keywords: Bangladesh, Environmental Monitoring, Fresh Water, Groundwater, Water note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: Global food security depends on the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. Rising groundwater withdrawals from seasonally humid, alluvial plains across tropical Asia have enabled dry-season rice cultivation. This groundwater pumpage increases available subsurface storage that under favorable conditions amplifies groundwater replenishment during the subsequent monsoon. We empirically quantified this nature-based solution to seasonal freshwater storage capture described as the "Bengal Water Machine," revealing its potential and limitations. On the basis of a million piezometric observations from 465 monitoring wells, we show that the collective operation of ~16 million smallholder farmers in the Bengal Basin of Bangladesh from 1988 to 2018 has induced cumulative freshwater capture that volumetrically (75 to 90 cubic kilometers) is equivalent to twice the reservoir capacity of the Three Gorges Dam. date: 2022-09-16 date_type: published publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) official_url: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm4730 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1978353 doi: 10.1126/science.abm4730 medium: Print-Electronic lyricists_name: Taylor, Richard lyricists_name: Shamsudduha, Mohammad lyricists_id: RTAYL91 lyricists_id: MSHAM12 actors_name: Shamsudduha, Mohammad actors_id: MSHAM12 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Science volume: 377 number: 6612 pagerange: 1315-1319 event_location: United States citation: Shamsudduha, Mohammad; Taylor, Richard G; Haq, Md Izazul; Nowreen, Sara; Zahid, Anwar; Ahmed, Kazi Matin Uddin; (2022) The Bengal Water Machine: Quantified freshwater capture in Bangladesh. Science , 377 (6612) pp. 1315-1319. 10.1126/science.abm4730 <https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm4730>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10156393/1/Bengal_Water_Machine_manuscript_final_14Jul22.pdf