Understanding how much water plants need in dry areas is important for managing water resources. This study looked at how drought affects water use by spring wheat in semi-arid regions. They found that the usual methods for estimating water use don't work well in these areas. By using different tools to measure water use, they discovered that the amount of water plants need changes a lot depending on how dry it is. They also found that the usual guidelines for estimating water use were not accurate in these conditions. By adjusting these guidelines, they were able to better predict how much water the plants actually needed. This new method was very effective in estimating water use for crops in semi-arid areas.