Ecological restoration impact on total terrestrial water storage

Large-scale ecological restoration (ER) has been successful in curbing land degradation and improving ecosystem services. Previous studies have shown that ER changes individual water flux or storage, but its net impact on total water resources remains unknown. Here we quantify ER impact on total terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Mu Us Sandyland of northern China, a hotspot of ER practices. By integrating multiple satellite observations and government reports, we construct a TWS record that covers both the pre-ER (1982–1998) and the post-ER (2003–2016) periods. We observe a significant TWS depletion (P < 0.0001) after ER, a substantial deviation from the pre-ER condition. This contrasts with a TWS increase simulated by an ecosystem model that excludes human interventions, indicating that ER is the primary cause for the observed water depletion. We estimate that ER has consumed TWS at an average rate of 16.6 ± 5.0 mm yr−1 in the analysed domain, equivalent to a volume of 21 km3 freshwater loss during the post-ER period. This study provides a framework that directly informs the water cost of ER. Our findings show that ER can exert excessive pressure on regional water resources. Sustainable ER strategies require optimizing ecosystem water consumption to balance land restoration and water resource conservation. While ecological restoration has been promoted for curbing degradation and improving ecosystem health, the impacts on water flux and storage have been understudied. This article finds that large-scale restoration efforts can actually deplete terrestrial water storage, requiring more effort to balance ecosystem needs.