TY - JOUR
T1 - Policy and institutional dimensions of the water-energy nexus
AU - Scott, Christopher A.
AU - Pierce, Suzanne A.
AU - Pasqualetti, Martin J.
AU - Jones, Alice L.
AU - Montz, Burrell E.
AU - Hoover, Joseph H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the following sources of support: Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) project SGP-HD #005 , which is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-0642841 ), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sectoral Applications Research Program, and the National Science Foundation under Grant no. EFRI-0835930 . Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the supporters of the research. The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation and thanks to Robert Merideth, who made invaluable contributions, both editorial and intellectual. Additional thanks are extended to Mike Hightower, Katharine Jacobs, Placido dos Santos, Robert Varady, Gregg Garfin, Subhrajit Guhathakurta, Barbara Trapido-Lurie, Ian Duncan, and numerous individuals and agencies that provided us with data and reports.
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - Energy and water are interlinked. The development, use, and waste generated by demand for both resources drive global change. Managing them in tandem offers potential for global-change adaptation but presents institutional challenges. This paper advances understanding of the water-energy nexus by demonstrating how these resources are coupled at multiple scales, and by uncovering institutional opportunities and impediments to joint decision-making. Three water-energy nexus cases in the United States are examined: (1) water and energy development in the water-scarce Southwest; (2) conflicts between coal development, environmental quality, and social impacts in the East; and (3) tensions between environmental quality and economic development of shale natural gas in the Northeast and Central U.S. These cases are related to Eastern, Central, and Western regional stakeholder priorities collected in a national effort to assess energy-water scenarios. We find that localized challenges are diminished when considered from broader perspectives, while regionally important challenges are not prioritized locally. The transportability of electricity, and to some extent raw coal and gas, makes energy more suitable than water to regionalized global-change adaptation, because many of the impacts to water availability and quality remain localized. We conclude by highlighting the need for improved coordination between water and energy policy.
AB - Energy and water are interlinked. The development, use, and waste generated by demand for both resources drive global change. Managing them in tandem offers potential for global-change adaptation but presents institutional challenges. This paper advances understanding of the water-energy nexus by demonstrating how these resources are coupled at multiple scales, and by uncovering institutional opportunities and impediments to joint decision-making. Three water-energy nexus cases in the United States are examined: (1) water and energy development in the water-scarce Southwest; (2) conflicts between coal development, environmental quality, and social impacts in the East; and (3) tensions between environmental quality and economic development of shale natural gas in the Northeast and Central U.S. These cases are related to Eastern, Central, and Western regional stakeholder priorities collected in a national effort to assess energy-water scenarios. We find that localized challenges are diminished when considered from broader perspectives, while regionally important challenges are not prioritized locally. The transportability of electricity, and to some extent raw coal and gas, makes energy more suitable than water to regionalized global-change adaptation, because many of the impacts to water availability and quality remain localized. We conclude by highlighting the need for improved coordination between water and energy policy.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.013
DO - 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.013
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80052778039
SN - 0301-4215
VL - 39
SP - 6622
EP - 6630
JO - Energy Policy
JF - Energy Policy
IS - 10
ER -
