Linking land management to water planning: Estimating the water consumption of Spanish forests

Land use and land cover play a crucial role in the partition of rainfall and the provision of blue water for downstream users in catchments. The number of studies addressing the hydrological implications linked to land conversions has grown significantly over the last years, particularly in humid regions (Gordon et al., 2005; Jackson et al., 2005; Scanlon et al., 2007; Trabucco et al., 2008). These driven changes on the water cycle have been argued to rival or even surpass those ascribed to climate change (Vörösmarty et al., 2000).