Original ResearchPublished 9 October 2026PCA-Lasso-based forecasting of agricultural water use and identification of key predictor variables in inland river basins of Northwest ChinaChao Xian · Maoding Zhou · Zerun Tian · Chen Shi · Yucai Wang · Dongyuan SunFrontiers in Waterdoi 10.3389/frwa.2026.1976296