---
_id: '12575'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The current Chilean megadrought has led to acute water shortages in central
    Chile since 2010. Glaciers have provided vital fresh water to the region's rivers,
    but the quantity, timing and sustainability of that provision remain unclear.
    Here we combine in-situ, remote sensing and climate reanalysis data to show that
    from 2010 to 2018 during the megadrought, unsustainable imbalance ablation of
    glaciers (ablation not balanced by new snowfall) strongly buffered the late-summer
    discharge of the Maipo River, a primary source of water to Santiago. If there
    had been no glaciers, water availability would have been reduced from December
    through May, with a 31 ± 19% decrease during March. Our results indicate that
    while the annual contributions of imbalance ablation to river discharge during
    the megadrought have been small compared to those from precipitation and sustainable
    balance ablation, they have nevertheless been a substantial input to a hydrological
    system that was already experiencing high water stress. The water-equivalent volume
    of imbalance ablation generated in the Maipo Basin between 2010 and 2018 was 740
    × 106 m3 (19 ± 12 mm yr−1), approximately 3.4 times the capacity of the basin's
    El Yeso Reservoir. This is equivalent to 14% of Santiago's potable water use in
    that time, while total glacier ablation was equivalent to 59%. We show that glacier
    retreat will exacerbate river discharge deficits and further jeopardize water
    availability in central Chile if precipitation deficits endure, and conjecture
    that these effects will be amplified by climatic warming.
article_number: e2022EF002852
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Michael
  full_name: McCarthy, Michael
  last_name: McCarthy
- first_name: Fabienne
  full_name: Meier, Fabienne
  last_name: Meier
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  last_name: Fatichi
- first_name: Benjamin D.
  full_name: Stocker, Benjamin D.
  last_name: Stocker
- first_name: Thomas E.
  full_name: Shaw, Thomas E.
  last_name: Shaw
- first_name: Evan
  full_name: Miles, Evan
  last_name: Miles
- first_name: Inés
  full_name: Dussaillant, Inés
  last_name: Dussaillant
- first_name: Francesca
  full_name: Pellicciotti, Francesca
  id: b28f055a-81ea-11ed-b70c-a9fe7f7b0e70
  last_name: Pellicciotti
citation:
  ama: McCarthy M, Meier F, Fatichi S, et al. Glacier contributions to river discharge
    during the current Chilean megadrought. <i>Earth’s Future</i>. 2022;10(10). doi:<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852">10.1029/2022ef002852</a>
  apa: McCarthy, M., Meier, F., Fatichi, S., Stocker, B. D., Shaw, T. E., Miles, E.,
    … Pellicciotti, F. (2022). Glacier contributions to river discharge during the
    current Chilean megadrought. <i>Earth’s Future</i>. American Geophysical Union.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852">https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852</a>
  chicago: McCarthy, Michael, Fabienne Meier, Simone Fatichi, Benjamin D. Stocker,
    Thomas E. Shaw, Evan Miles, Inés Dussaillant, and Francesca Pellicciotti. “Glacier
    Contributions to River Discharge during the Current Chilean Megadrought.” <i>Earth’s
    Future</i>. American Geophysical Union, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852">https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852</a>.
  ieee: M. McCarthy <i>et al.</i>, “Glacier contributions to river discharge during
    the current Chilean megadrought,” <i>Earth’s Future</i>, vol. 10, no. 10. American
    Geophysical Union, 2022.
  ista: McCarthy M, Meier F, Fatichi S, Stocker BD, Shaw TE, Miles E, Dussaillant
    I, Pellicciotti F. 2022. Glacier contributions to river discharge during the current
    Chilean megadrought. Earth’s Future. 10(10), e2022EF002852.
  mla: McCarthy, Michael, et al. “Glacier Contributions to River Discharge during
    the Current Chilean Megadrought.” <i>Earth’s Future</i>, vol. 10, no. 10, e2022EF002852,
    American Geophysical Union, 2022, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002852">10.1029/2022ef002852</a>.
  short: M. McCarthy, F. Meier, S. Fatichi, B.D. Stocker, T.E. Shaw, E. Miles, I.
    Dussaillant, F. Pellicciotti, Earth’s Future 10 (2022).
date_created: 2023-02-20T08:09:49Z
date_published: 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-02-28T13:55:32Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1029/2022ef002852
extern: '1'
intvolume: '        10'
issue: '10'
keyword:
- Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
- General Environmental Science
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002852
month: '10'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Earth's Future
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 2328-4277
publication_status: published
publisher: American Geophysical Union
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Glacier contributions to river discharge during the current Chilean megadrought
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 10
year: '2022'
...