HS5.3.4

Integrating the operational planning of river, land and power infrastructure could safeguard the water, energy and food security in regions where these resources are under pressure by increasing demands and decreasing availabilities and production potentials. Our work focuses on the benefits of integration and cooperation in the operational planning of these resources and infrastructures between riparian states in transboundary river basins. Therefore we introduce a regional hard-linked WEF-nexus model that explicitly represents resource connectivity networks, gridded agro-hydrological potentials and constraints, national socio-economic demands and non-linear operational processes to optimise reservoir operations, water allocations, cropping patterns, electricity mixes and trade quantities on a monthly time-step over multiple years in a receding horizon fashion. This iterative process facilitates the modelling of changes as feedback against exogenous disturbances and, through the exchange of information between countries, different levels of cooperation. We optimize the total economic returns of resource allocation for four different transboundary cooperation scenarios over an historic planning period in the Eastern Nile basin, for each country and regionally, for multiple foresight settings and policy objectives. Compared to the reference scenario of unilateral planning, our results indicate an increase in regional economic returns for scenarios in which flow information is shared between countries (+8%), flow and trade information is shared (+9%) and resources are coordinated regionally (+13%), without this being accompanied by a significant decline in returns for any country. These increased returns successively come from an increase in the effectiveness of agricultural water consumption, especially in Sudan, a change in trade patterns for agricultural products and a shift in cropping patterns. These findings illustrate the importance of adequate representations of spatial and temporal heterogeneity and resource connectivity, and the need for a  more  diverse  set  of  collaboration  scenarios  to  quantify the  costs  and  benefits  of  specific  interventions  and  policies to facilitate comprehensively planning in transboundary river systems.

How to cite: Verhagen, J., van der Zaag, P., and Abraham, E.: Operational planning of WEF infrastructure: quantifying the value of cooperation in the Eastern Nile basin, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14550, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14550, 2021.

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus has gained growing interest in recent years as a promising approach to overcome governance failures in dealing with complex resource management challenges. Various qualitative and quantitative methods from different disciplines have been used to understand Nexus issues, but just few of these take into account (1) the role of institutions on interactions, and (2) the intertwinedness of social and ecological interactions, which cause social-ecological patterns in Nexus issues.

This paper introduces an approach to address that methodological gap. Specifically, the paper links two nascent approaches –the Networks of Action Situations (NAS) approach and the Social-Ecological Action Situations (SE-AS) framework. The value and the potential of the approach introduced is illustrated for two Nexus cases with a problem constellation, which is quite typical for many regions in the world. The two cases are reservoir-lake-river-cascades with water uses for drinking water, energy- and food-production in the canton of Zurich and in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. The results show governance gaps and coordination problems regarding the WEF Nexus. The governance processes prioritise energy production in both WEF Nexus cases and drinking water in one case. Both cases do not take into account food production in the coordination processes. The study presents the value of the approach by demonstrating the ways in which institutions limit or support synergies, how adjacent actions situations shape decisions with immediate relevance for collective outcomes in WEF Nexus, and how the intertwined interplay of social-ecological interactions jointly and dynamically generate social-ecological patterns in Nexus situations.

How to cite: Kellner, E.: Capturing Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus as a network phenomenon in social ecological systems, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-10370, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10370, 2021.

Water, Energy, and Food sectors are interconnected and part of a complex system referred to as the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus. The assessment of WEF interactions through the nexus approach is crucial to illustrate interlinkages, synergies, and minimise trade-offs among these three components when development plans are assessed. Water, energy, and food are at the core of developing countries' goals and strategies where interest in the WEF nexus approach is rapidly growing. However, a lack of empirical evidence, appropriate methods, and quantitative WEF nexus assessment tools has been highlighted. Thus, WEF Nexus Toolkit (WEF-Tools) project aims at supporting policymakers across the water, energy, and food sectors to make evidence-based decisions on environmental, economic, and resource security issues. In this study, we qualitatively and quantitatively assess the WEF nexus in the Songwe River Basin (SRB), located on the border between Malawi and Tanzania. Reducing poverty, improving human health and livelihoods, ensuring water, food, and energy security, mitigating floods, and enhancing sustainable river basin management are the main challenges recognised by the SRB Programme (SRBP) jointly developed by the Governments of both countries. The construction of a multi-purpose dam is a key objective of the SRBP. The dam is intended to supply water for ⁓180 MW hydropower plant, ⁓86000 dwellers, ⁓3000 ha of irrigation schemes in each country, and control floods in the lower part of the basin. WEF-Tools has assessed the SRBP expected outcomes by applying an approach that starts from conceptual mapping of the SRB nexus system and progresses to the development of quantitative tools such as System Dynamics Models (SDMs), and identification of suitable indicators for the assessment of different scenarios, management strategies, subsequently providing decision-makers with feasible development pathways. Ultimately, this work will provide a structured knowledge base, simulation tool, dashboard, and a composite nexus index co-developed, tested, validated, and refined through interactive collaboration with stakeholders and local experts. Thus, it is intended that the toolkit supports the development of short-, medium- and long-term strategies for sustainable integrated resource management and policy development. Outcomes will provide a means for government ministries, NGOs, and development agencies to assess progress towards relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDGs 2, 6, and 7.

Keywords: Water-Energy-Food Nexus, multi-purpose reservoir, decision making, System Dynamics Model, SDGs, Songwe River Basin

How to cite: Masia, S., Kiala, Z., Sušnik, J., Mabhaudhi, T., and Jewitt, G.: Water-Energy-Food Nexus assessment of the intended outcomes of the Songwe River Basin Programme in Malawi and Tanzania, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-1193, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1193, 2021.

This paper aims to assess the discrepancy in hydropower representation between conventional PCMs and hydro scheduling tools and propose a new method to account for hydrological and environmental aspects in PCMs. To achieve this, three scenarios are simulated. The first scenario simulates hydropower operations using a conventional PCM. The second scenario uses an iterative method to integrate into a PCM the hydropower operations modeled by a hydro scheduling tool. The third scenario explores a hybrid alternative in which hydropower operations are simulated based on dynamic hydropower parameters calculated from detailed environmental constraints. These dynamic hydropower parameters are calculated via “surfaces”, or bivariate functions, generated in advance by the hydro scheduling tool used in scenario 2 under numerous hydrological conditions.

How to cite: Ploussard, Q., Voisin, N., Veselka, T., and Oikonomou, K.: Hydro-Economics Tradeoff Surfaces to Guide Unit Commitment in Production Cost Models, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-13855, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13855, 2021.

The water-energy-food-land-climate nexus sectors interact in a complex system operating on many scales. Better understanding this system, and its response to change (e.g. climate change, policy implementation) is urgently required, yet little progress has been made on integrating real policy objectives into nexus models to assess potential nexus-wide impacts of policy decisions. Given current concerns on resource scarcity, and on the growing appreciation of how connected the sectors are, under-standing how the implementation of policy objectives in one area will impact (1) other nexus sectors and (2) potential future system behaviour, is becoming vitally important. Despite this, little progress has been towards such an understanding. In this work, a fully integrated system dynamics model of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia is presented. The model couples all the nexus sectors in a feedback driven modelling framework. Latvia is represented in five distinct yet inter-acting regions, allowing finer scale interrogation of results and policy implications. In addition, real Latvian policies are integrated within various nexus sectors (e.g. a policy to improve crop yields or to expand agricultural lands at the expense of other land use types). Due to the integrated nature of the model, executing any policy will not only have an impact within the policy sector (e.g. water), but the nexus-wide impacts can also be determined (e.g. on GHG emissions). Results show that due to the inter-connectedness, impacts range far more widely than may be anticipated. For example, implementing policies to achieve goals related to cereal land coverage in Latvia prevents the attainment of policy goals relating to emissions reductions. As such, synergies can be identified and harnessed, while trade-offs can be avoided. Policy can then be (re-)designed to maximise nexus-wide benefits. This work is carried out in the framework of the H2020 project SIM4NEXUS, which will deliver 10 more such models exploring the policy impacts on the nexus at different scales (sub-national to European). As such, the work starts to fill a crucial academic and applied knowledge gap: how policies designed for a single sector have impacts that ripple throughout the entire nexus. As such, guidelines for more intelligent policy design can start to be formulated, something that is lacking in current nexus research.

How to cite: Susnik, J., Masia, S., Indriksone, D., Bremere, I., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia, L., and Brouwer, F.: Integrated system dynamics modelling of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia: exploring the impact of policy measures in a nexus-wide context, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-1043, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1043, 2021.

How to cite: Castanier, H.: Monitoring water availability by a multi level model to address water scarcity, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-6994, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6994, 2021.

Sustainable energy systems can only be achieved when reducing both carbon emissions and water use for energy generation. Water-energy nexus studies are therefore crucial for supporting environmental policy oriented towards the mobilisation of resources in an optimally integrated way. Decarbonizing heating infrastructures is an important part of achieving low-carbon energy systems because they globally account for 50% of the final energy consumption and 40% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In our study, we quantitatively assess the changing water usage of the energy sector due to the integration of low carbon heating infrastructures. Multiple future energy mix scenarios were assessed  by building a multi-scale energy and water use model that quantifies the direct and virtual water footprint of space heating and hot water use in households, services and industry. In this presentation we show an analysis on the water use of heating pathways towards the year 2050 for the Netherlands and its capital, the city of Amsterdam. Additionally, we present preliminary results from our research about the trade-offs between carbon emission reductions, insulation measures and energy reliability in neighbourhoods in Amsterdam.

How to cite: Kaandorp, C., van de Giesen, N., and Abraham, E.: Decarbonising future heating systems: trade-offs between water use and CO2 emissions, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2324, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2324, 2021.

The water footprint has developed into a widely-used concept to examine water use and resulting local impacts caused during agricultural and industrial production. Building on recent advancements in the water footprint concept, it can be an effective steering instrument to support, inter alia, achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) - SDG 6 in particular. Within the research program “Water as a Global Resource” (GRoW), an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, a number of research projects currently apply and enhance the water footprint concept in order to identify areas where water is being used inefficiently and implement practical optimization measures. We aim to raise awareness on the potential of the water footprint concept to inform decision-making in the public and private sectors towards improved water management and achieving the SDGs. In particular, we show how modern water footprint methods and tools developed in GRoW can inform policy planning towards more sustainable use of water resources at various levels. They can also support producers in determining their indirect water use and associated impacts in supply chains, in addition to their (often comparably low) direct water use at production sites. Finally, we show how the water footprint can raise awareness and inform consumers about the hidden water use and resulting impacts of daily products and services.

How to cite: Semmling, E., Berger, M., Campos, J., Carolli, M., Dantas, I., Kosatica, E., Kramer, A., Mikosch, N., Nouri, H., Schlattmann, A., Schmidt, F., and Schomberg, A.: Advancing the Water Footprint into an instrument to support achieving the SDGs, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-15434, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15434, 2021.

Renewable energies play a key role in avoiding carbon dioxide emissions from fossil electricity generation. However, support for certain renewable energy technologies focused only on greenhouse gas reduction can reinforce other environmental impacts and thus shift the problems. The authors therefore compare three forms of renewable electricity generation, namely concentrated solar power, run-of-river hydropower and sugarcane bagasse burning, to classical electricity generation from hard coal combustion with respect to their contribution to regional water scarcity. In a comparative life cycle impact assessment the quantitative and qualitative demand for water is assessed in a comprehensive conceptual framework against the background of regional water availability. A spatially explicit analysis reveals hotspots of water use along the case studies’ supply chains with a strong focus on mining activities. For this purpose, the global supply chains of nine mineral resources (aluminium, clay, coal, copper, gypsum, iron, lime, lithium and phosphate) were regionalised at mine site level in advance, so that contributions to environmental impacts can be assigned to single mine clusters. Next to the locations of the case studies itself, about 40 % of all contributions are associated with mining activities. Hard coal mining in Russian and Chinese mines as well as in South Africa as part of the supply chains of all case studies makes up the largest share of this. Further contributions are from mining of iron ore in Australian mines and copper extraction in Chinese, North American and Peruvian mines. However, up to 65 % of the life cycle impacts cannot be spatially analysed due to limited data availability. These findings indicate that a detailed investigation of mining supply chains is necessary to compare power generation technologies in a meaningful way. Results also show that sugarcane bagasse burning, if used as by-product and not as waste, is responsible for the largest contributions to all indicators, suggesting that targeted use of biomass for electricity generation is not is not very effective in reducing global environmental impacts, such as contribution to water scarcity.

How to cite: Schomberg, A., Flörke, M., and Bringezu, S.: Water scarcity footprint of renewable electricity generation in the context of regional impacts from mining activities, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-6725, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6725, 2021.

The concept of a sustainable green city based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)–Goal 11 - sustainable cities and communities – may not be narrowed down to solely intensifying urban green spaces. Sustainability could include urban water management to alleviate possible conflict among “water‐saving” and “greening cities” strategies. Water consumption by urban greenery has a major role in urban water management, particularly in water-scarce regions where green covers are most affected by drought and aridity. More green and blue water resources are required to maintain and expand urban green spaces. Quantifying the water footprint of urban greenery helps to balance greening cities while water saving from both green and blue water resources. We employed remote sensing and artificial intelligence techniques to assess the water consumption and water footprint of a 780‐ha public green space, the Adelaide Parklands in Australia. We estimated the green and blue water footprint of this green space (containing 29 parks) during 2010-2018 on a monthly basis. Our results showed that the mean total water footprint of the Adelaide Parklands was about 7.75 gigaliter per annum over 2010-2018; it varied from 7.19 gigaliter/year in 2018 to 8.45 gigaliter/year in 2012. The blue water footprint was consistently higher than the green water footprint even in wet time of the year. We suggest implementing sponge city and water sensitive urban design (WSUD) techniques to help greening cities while reducing the water footprint of urban green spaces. These approaches have the potential to lessen the pressure on blue water resources and optimise the consumption of green water resources.

How to cite: Nouri, H., Chavoshi Borujeni, S., Nagler, P., Barreto Munoz, A., Didan, K., and Hoekstra, A.: Changes in the water footprint of urban green spaces over time, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-100, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-100, 2021.