Interbasin water transfers at the US–Mexico border city of Nogales,Sonora: implications for aquifers and water security

Nogales, Sonora, on the US–Mexico border, employs interbasin water and wastewater transfers to address water scarcity in the context of a rising population, a warming climate, and cross-border institutional asymmetries. A unique feature of its geography and border context is Nogales's export of wastewater both north to the US and, starting with the August 2012 commissioning of a strategically positioned wastewater treatment plant, south to the Alisos basin, which is its principal drinking-water source. Thus, when the new plant is fully operational, it will result in indirect potable reuse of effluent via recharge of the source-water aquifer. This paper finds that such strategies contribute to increased water scarcity in Nogales, and to detrimental health, livelihood and environmental impacts in the source basin, thus raising questions about interbasin transfers as a principal water management strategy.     

Shipping water across the US–Mexico border: international governance dimensions of desalination for export

New public–private desalination projects along the Mexico–United States boundary have the potential to strengthen water security in this arid region. International bulk water commerce in this region is unprecedented and constrained by existing international agreements and regulations. This problem is examined from a multilevel governance perspective, focusing on two desalination projects with near-term export potential in Rosarito, Baja California, and Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. These projects add to the array of agencies and procedures in binational water management but will not displace the International Boundary and Water Commission, which is sure to have a role in managing such projects.     

Bioenergy,food security and poverty reduction: trade-offs and synergies along the water–energy–food security nexus

This article provides a review of trade-offs and synergies of bioenergy within the water–energy–food security nexus, with emphasis on developing countries. It explores the links of bioenergy with food security, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, health, and gender equity. It concludes that applying the nexus perspective to analyses of bioenergy widens the scope for achieving multiple-win outcomes along the above aspects.     

The politics of water reform and environmental sustainability in the Murray–Darling Basin

This paper examines three actions by national and state governments – the role of the Cap, the Living Murray (TLM) and the National Action Plan for Water Security/Water for the Future, embodying the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) Plan – in the Murray–Darling Basin over a 20-year period. The three actions sought to address declining environmental conditions through water policy reform. All were significant in their own way, but only the third offers the prospect of improving environmental outcomes. Taken together, the case studies illustrate that in real life and in complex, multilevelled policy-making, politics is central to water policy decision-making.     

Criteria for assessing the level of land–water integration in planning instruments in Andalusia,Spain

Academia has come to realize that integrating water management and land resources can deliver a significant contribution to achieving sustainable outcomes. However, its implementation in daily practice is lagging behind. In order to address this knowledge–practice gap, this paper suggests the integration of land and water resources management can be improved through the incorporation of specific criteria in the territorial plans and river basin management plans. The proposed criteria were used to develop a methodology to assess the level of integration between water resources and land uses in current planning practice. The case of Andalusia in Spain provided the empirical focus.     

Unsafe water,sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria’s public spaces: the political economy angle

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services in public spaces are examined from the political economy perspective in Nigeria. Through field observations and interviews, the study observed that WaSH practices at public spaces are less than optimal on account of poor or outright absence of necessary WaSH infrastructure and weak or non-existent regulation and enforcement of necessary standards, among other challenges. Socio-economic factors related to the category of users and the proprietary interests of specific spaces largely accounted for WaSH services inequality. It is argued that the failure of the state to guarantee functional WaSH infrastructure and enforce standard practices opens space for differentiated practices and standards consistent with specific interests.     

Public–Private Partnerships in the Water Sector: The Case of Desalination

Water Resources Management - Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have grown in popularity as a method to leverage private sector actors in the production of government services. With the...     

Hydrology,management and rising water vulnerability in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna River basin

A water vulnerability analysis is made of how sensitivity characteristics of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna (GBM) River basin may affect adaptive capacity. A co-riparian ‘country perspective’ highlights the importance of local level management actions. Results reveal that vulnerabilities in India and Bangladesh stem from hydrological and ecological factors, but are more linked to poverty and underdevelopment in Nepal. Poor political governance and underinvestment in the water sector add to vulnerability in Bangladesh and Nepal. Overall, Bangladesh is the most sensitive country while Nepal has the least capacity to adapt.     

The water–energy–food (WEF) security nexus: the policy perspective of Bangladesh

This paper provides a review of the emerging literature on the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus and then analyses the nexus in the context of Bangladesh. Results suggest that the WEF nexus is not yet recognized in the policy documents of Bangladesh, while conflicts over these resources are growing. In order to reduce this contestation, ‘policy integration’ is recommended for implementing key policies in the WEF nexus.     

Towards a water–energy–food nexus policy: realizing the blue and green virtual water of agriculture in Jordan

Virtual water is an important addendum to how we view a country's water resources. This study examines the virtual water embedded in Jordan's agricultural produce and its impact on future water–energy–food policies. Blue and green virtual waters are calculated from data on rainfall, crop patterns, yields, and water requirements at the district level. Results highlight the advantages of blue water usage in the Jordan Valley and of harnessing more available green water in the Highlands, with both displaying low energy impact. Results also emphasize the high groundwater usage and energy footprint in the Desert regions, signalling a need to rein in groundwater extraction and take advantage of solar power.     

Complicating neoliberalization and decentralization: the non-linear experience of Colombian water supply, 1909–2012

This article presents key elements in the evolution of water supply regulation in Colombia over the twentieth century. This is novel in that it contradicts widely accepted and seemingly universal trends in water supply development. By putting apparently recent phenomena into a longer historical trajectory, we are able to nuance the idea of a unidirectional transition from centralized to decentralized governance, as well as the evolution of policies associated with neoliberalization. We find that regulatory development began at the municipal scale in the 1920s, only to be centralized mid-century. By the same token, policies typically associated with neoliberalization – such as corporatization, full cost recovery, and volumetric metering – began in the 1910s and 1920s and not under neoliberalism in the 1980s. The work is based on a database compiled by the authors. The database comprises municipal, departmental and state regulatory interventions from 1909 to 2012.     

To what end? Drip irrigation and the water–energy–food nexus in Morocco

This article draws on three case studies of drip irrigation adoption in Morocco to consider the water–energy–food nexus concept from a bottom-up perspective. Findings indicate that small farmers' adoption of drip irrigation is conditional, that water and energy efficiency does not necessarily reduce overall consumption, and that adoption of drip irrigation (and policies supporting it) can create winners and losers. The article concludes that, although the water–energy–food WEF nexus concept may offer useful insights, its use in policy formulation should be tempered with caution. Technical options that appear beneficial at the conceptual level can have unintended consequences in practice, and policies focused on issues of scarcity and efficiency may exacerbate other dimensions of poverty and inequality.     

Nexus meets crisis: a review of conflict,natural resources and the humanitarian response in Darfur with reference to the water–energy–food nexus

Darfur has been widely used as a case study by both those arguing for causality between environmental scarcity and war and those disputing it. This article challenges that approach by drawing on debates taking place within Darfur, reflecting on both the conflict and the humanitarian response. It argues that reviewing Darfur on its own terms makes a stronger basis to identify transferable lessons for interventions elsewhere. It considers water, food and energy, and finds that supporting governance is an essential theme for promoting economic recovery and laying a foundation for a well-managed water–energy–food nexus.     

De-nationalization and de-securitization of transboundary water resources: the Israeli–Palestinian case

Many people think of transboundary water in terms of national security. However, water is not, nor is it likely to become, a cause of war. Rather, the need is for water security, which implies that water management must balance the goals of efficiency, equity, sustainability and implementability. This article suggests how a joint management structure for fresh water can be designed to promote ongoing resolution of issues, and do so in a way that de-nationalizes and de-securitizes transboundary water. Though designed with the Israeli–Palestinian case in mind, the approach is applicable wherever water divides rather than unites states or peoples.     

Extreme water level rise across the upper Laurentian Great Lakes region: Citizen science documentation 2010–2020

As the global water balance accelerates in a warming climate, extreme fluctuations in the water levels of lakes and aquifers are anticipated, with biogeochemical, ecological and water supply consequences. However, it is unclear how site-specific factors, such as location, morphometry and hydrology, will modulate these impacts on regional spatial scales. Here, we report water level time series collected by citizen scientists for 15 diverse inland lakes in the upper Laurentian Great Lakes region from 2010 to 2020, and we compare these time series with those for the two largest Great Lakes, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron. Combined with historical data (1942–2010), the findings indicate that lakes spanning seven orders of magnitude in size (10^?2 to 10⁵ km²) all rebounded from record low to record high water levels during the recent decade. They suggest coherent water level oscillations among regional lakes (large and small) implying a common, near-decadal, climatic driver that may be changing.     

Promoting and assessing water governance at subnational level: the experience of Brazil’s National Water Management Pact

Relying on previous experiences of goal-oriented initiatives, an inclusive method for classifying and evaluating subnational water management systems has been implemented nationwide to promote the effective participation of social actors in the establishment of water governance goals. Nowadays, the methodology has been fully adopted by all Brazilian subnational federative entities – 26 states and the Federal District – and, in most cases, it has been used as an instrument for orienting state action. This article describes this methodological approach in the light of Brazil’s legal and institutional framework for water resources management.     

‘Hotel Middle East’: social shocks and adaptation in Jordan’s domestic water sector

While socio-ecological systems are susceptible to social shocks, a theoretical and empirical understanding of social-shock adaptation remains absent from the literature. This article investigates the Syrian refugee crisis in water-scarce Jordan, where historical waves of migration have shaped water governance. Findings suggest that water sector adaptation to social shocks fits within broader adaptation theory, and that frequent refugee crises in Jordan have perpetuated reactive water governance, shaping the sector’s resiliencies, vulnerabilities, and adaptation processes. Through examining adaptation processes in the acute water and refugee contexts of Jordan, we suggest that through planning and preparedness, socio-ecological systems could build resilience to social shocks.     

Rapid assessment of the water–energy–food–climate nexus in six selected basins of North Africa and West Asia undergoing transitions and scarcity threats

Existing strategies for management of water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa negotiate a complex system of trade-offs between water, energy, and food production. The effects of rural households' green water management practices on basin-level water, energy, food and carbon stocks and flows are sketched qualitatively in six basin agro-ecosystems. The case for increased strategic support for green agricultural water management practices appears stronger when weighed from the nexus perspective, rather than purely from the point of view of water balance and food production. Trade-offs under critical transitions affecting agricultural water use are explored, and the scope for quantitative monitoring is discussed.