Exceptional water deficits will diminish over the next few months but large pockets are forecast for Brazil in Acre, Rondônia, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás, western Minas Gerais, northern Mato Grosso do Sul, and São Paolo. Deficits elsewhere include: Venezuela surrounding Caracas; western Ecuador; a path from east of Lima, Peru through the Atacama Desert in Chile; and, along the Río Paraguay. Surpluses are forecast for Peru’s Huánuco Region; central and eastern Colombia into Apure, Venezuela; southeastern Peru into central Bolivia; and, the eastern Argentine Pampas.
Middle East: Intense water deficits will persist in Iraq, increase in Iran
The forecast through September indicates that water deficits will downgrade in the Levant but remain intense in West Bank and Lebanon, and deficits will intensify on the Arabian Peninsula. In Turkey, deficits will downgrade and shrink somewhat but much of Turkey will continue in moderate to severe deficit with some pockets of greater intensity. Exceptional deficits will persist in southern Iraq, and severe deficits west of the Euphrates River. In Iran, deficits will increase and become more intense.
Mexico, Central America, & the Caribbean: Significant water deficits forecast for southern Mexico
Over the next few months, significant water deficits will emerge in southern Mexico including Michoacán, Guerrero, Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas. Exceptional deficits will also reach into Central America, emerging in Guatemala, El Salvador, and western Honduras. Deficits will downgrade somewhat in western Cuba but intensify in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica will transition from surplus to deficit.
Africa: Water deficits to intensify in W Ethiopia, Zambia, & Botswana
Exceptional water deficits will shrink and downgrade across North Africa and along the Red Sea but deficits will remain widespread and intense. Intense deficits are also forecast for western Ethiopia, southern Gabon, northwestern Botswana, central Zambia, and western Madagascar. Exceptional surpluses will persist in East Africa; extreme surpluses are forecast for the conjoined borders of Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Republic of the Congo; and surpluses of lesser intensity are forecast for westernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo.
ISciences Worldwide Water Watch List July 2018
Regions forecast to have significant water deficits for the 12-month period from April 2018 through March 2019 include: southern Mexico, northern Brazil, North Africa, Europe, and Afghanistan. Areas with a forecast of significant water surplus include: Montana and Idaho (US), Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Bangladesh. This Watch List is based on ISciences Water Security Indicator Model (WSIM) run on 10 July 2018.





