Freshwater resources are critical to both human civilization and natural ecosystems, but UBC researchers have discovered that changes to ground vegetation can have as much of an impact on global water resources as climate change. … Using several decades worth of data, their work examined how water resources are responsive to vegetation ground cover and climate change.”As we urbanize land and continue to convert forests for other uses, our water regimes change,” says Wei. “We end up with the systems we do not design for, and entire watersheds are being affected.”Forested areas are critically important water resources, explains Li. But as land is developed or the green vegetation is destroyed, watersheds are irreversibly damaged.