Land Use and Land Cover Change
Land use and land cover (LULC) changes include modifications to land use and land cover as a result of economic activity and climate. Land cover change includes evolution or alteration in vegetation communities and soils. LULC change directly impacts the water budget because it influences transpiration, infiltration, and surface runoff.
Estimating Combined Climate Change and Land Use/Land Cover Change Impacts on Water Resources
Climate change and changes to land use and land cover (LULC) both impact water resources, and they have interacting influences on the amount of water available for management and consumption. The framework for the assessment of relative risk to watershed-scale water resources from systemic changes presented in 'Projecting Climate Change Impacts to Watershed Water Resources' is used again to predict combined climate and LULC change impacts from 2011–2100 for the same semi-arid watershed in Texas. In the application, an increase in impervious area from economic development is the LULC change. It generates a 1.1 times increase in average water availability, relative to future climate trends, from increased runoff and decreased evapotranspiration.