The major land cover types in the study area are agriculture (50%), forest and semi-natural lands (46%), the remainder being water and wetlands (3%) and artificial areas (1%). It was found that open water bodies have the highest ET values followed by agricultural areas due to large-scale irrigation. The areas of the land cover categories and the corresponding amount of water consumption estimated in this study are given in Table 4. As shown, the water consumption in the study area is dominated by agricultural and forest/semi-natural lands which cover the majority of the landscape (94.8%), and the ET rate of these areas accounts for over 92% of total consumption during the study period. Agricultural lands (49.4%) have the highest consumption (50.4%) as regards to the integrated impact of land coverage on the ET rate.
Land use and monthly ET
| Land cover type . | Area (km2) . | Months . | Total ET (mm) . | Mean (mm) . | Standard deviation . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural lands | 1,757.7 | April | 176,064.0 | 95.9 | 26.8 |
| May | 209,312.1 | 113.8 | 33.1 | ||
| June | 232,404.6 | 126.0 | 32.2 | ||
| July | 302,526.2 | 162.5 | 48.6 | ||
| August | 196,126.0 | 104.8 | 32.0 | ||
| September | 111,855.3 | 84.9 | 44.4 | ||
| Forest and semi-natural lands | 1,615.8 | April | 148,655.0 | 90.4 | 35.5 |
| May | 167,255.9 | 102.9 | 46.2 | ||
| June | 188,299.9 | 114.2 | 49.1 | ||
| July | 218,578.0 | 132.8 | 66.9 | ||
| August | 198,516.7 | 114.6 | 42.8 | ||
| September | 105,428.0 | 65.7 | 53.4 | ||
| Wetlands | 3.1 | April | 229.6 | 57.5 | 37.3 |
| May | 248.5 | 62.1 | 40.4 | ||
| June | 414.4 | 103.6 | 20.0 | ||
| July | 758.9 | 189.7 | 25.0 | ||
| August | 663.8 | 166.0 | 21.1 | ||
| September | 482.2 | 120.6 | 38.9 | ||
| Water bodies | 75.7 | April | 12,108.4 | 126.1 | 32.1 |
| May | 15,966.6 | 164.6 | 47.5 | ||
| June | 17,782.5 | 183.3 | 40.0 | ||
| July | 22,385.3 | 228.4 | 40.0 | ||
| August | 18,510.4 | 210.3 | 38.8 | ||
| September | 14,140.2 | 148.8 | 31.5 | ||
| Artificial areas | 105.1 | April | 10,257.7 | 71.2 | 39.0 |
| May | 13,441.4 | 87.3 | 50.1 | ||
| June | 14.822.3 | 98.2 | 50.5 | ||
| July | 18,145.3 | 121.8 | 58.5 | ||
| August | 16,301.7 | 91.1 | 37.5 | ||
| September | 6,844.1 | 54.8 | 45.7 |
| Land cover type . | Area (km2) . | Months . | Total ET (mm) . | Mean (mm) . | Standard deviation . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural lands | 1,757.7 | April | 176,064.0 | 95.9 | 26.8 |
| May | 209,312.1 | 113.8 | 33.1 | ||
| June | 232,404.6 | 126.0 | 32.2 | ||
| July | 302,526.2 | 162.5 | 48.6 | ||
| August | 196,126.0 | 104.8 | 32.0 | ||
| September | 111,855.3 | 84.9 | 44.4 | ||
| Forest and semi-natural lands | 1,615.8 | April | 148,655.0 | 90.4 | 35.5 |
| May | 167,255.9 | 102.9 | 46.2 | ||
| June | 188,299.9 | 114.2 | 49.1 | ||
| July | 218,578.0 | 132.8 | 66.9 | ||
| August | 198,516.7 | 114.6 | 42.8 | ||
| September | 105,428.0 | 65.7 | 53.4 | ||
| Wetlands | 3.1 | April | 229.6 | 57.5 | 37.3 |
| May | 248.5 | 62.1 | 40.4 | ||
| June | 414.4 | 103.6 | 20.0 | ||
| July | 758.9 | 189.7 | 25.0 | ||
| August | 663.8 | 166.0 | 21.1 | ||
| September | 482.2 | 120.6 | 38.9 | ||
| Water bodies | 75.7 | April | 12,108.4 | 126.1 | 32.1 |
| May | 15,966.6 | 164.6 | 47.5 | ||
| June | 17,782.5 | 183.3 | 40.0 | ||
| July | 22,385.3 | 228.4 | 40.0 | ||
| August | 18,510.4 | 210.3 | 38.8 | ||
| September | 14,140.2 | 148.8 | 31.5 | ||
| Artificial areas | 105.1 | April | 10,257.7 | 71.2 | 39.0 |
| May | 13,441.4 | 87.3 | 50.1 | ||
| June | 14.822.3 | 98.2 | 50.5 | ||
| July | 18,145.3 | 121.8 | 58.5 | ||
| August | 16,301.7 | 91.1 | 37.5 | ||
| September | 6,844.1 | 54.8 | 45.7 |