The multivariate climatic and anthropogenic elasticity of streamflow in the Eastern United States

Changes in climate, LULC, and water use all significantly affected mean and drought flows. The interactions of these factors moderated the effect of precipitation on mean flow for regions where anthropogenic influences cannot be ignored. Human-induced land use changes were found to have a greater influence on drought flow than mean flow. Increased water use significantly reduced mean flow in the Northeast, where urbanization was more prevalent. Although the effect of water use on drought flow was found to be greater than its effect on mean flow, the variations of most water use effect estimates were too large to be concluded as significant.