A Water–Energy–Food Nexus Perspective on the Challenge of Eutrophication

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand and explore the problem of eutrophication in the context of agriculture with the help of a nexus perspective. Eutrophication is significantly linked to water and energy resources with theoretically well-defined trade-offs and threshold levels. While looking at the linkages between water and land resources comprehensively, our paper questions the present approach to designing and implementing watershed management, and analyses the effects of agricultural intensification, especially in dry regions. Eutrophication is the process by which excessive nutrient loads in water bodies lead to undesirable water-quality problems and the degradation of the overall aquatic ecosystem. Due to limited information and knowledge on water and soil quality in most countries, farmers continue to use fertilizers at an increasing rate and agricultural run-off has been carrying ever more nitrogen and phosphorus into water bodies. This is likely to become a vicious cycle of eutrophication affecting food and water security. Of late, soil-and water-conservation interventions, like watershed development, are further reducing run-off. It is argued that there is a need to rethink the assumptions under which watershed interventions are designed and implemented.

Farmers’ and Consumers’ Preferences for Drinking Water Quality Improvement through Land Management Practices: The Case Study of the Soyang Watershed in South Korea

“…This result could be explained by the fact that, even though the roles of the respondents were different along the Soyang watershed, they were especially concerned about the water quality level in the Soyang watershed. This was in line with the result, which showed the importance of the socio-economic determinants in the heterogeneous choice of the respondents [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44].…”

“…Regarding the sustainable water and land management, a recent study provided a win-win strategy and was challenged under the nexus of the water-energy-food perceptive, as demonstrated by the synergies and trade-offs for implementing the efficient governance and institutions [39,41]. With the emphasis on soil conservation measures, some studies focused on quantifying the costs and benefits for sustainable land use management practices [42,43].…”

Tree-Based Modeling Methods to Predict Nitrate Exceedances in the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas

“…Overall, tree-based models offer flexible, transparent approaches for mapping nitrate exceedances, identifying underlying mechanisms and prioritizing monitoring activities.Water 2020, 12, 1023 2 of 27 worldwide [5,6]. Intensification of agricultural activities for both food and energy will further increase the risks of nitrate contamination in aquifers across the world [7][8][9].Nitrate is mobile and fairly recalcitrant, especially in shallow groundwater systems that typically tend to be under oxidizing conditions. Nitrate exhibits the ability to spread over large areas and cannot be treated in-situ using conventional plume scale treatment technologies [10].…”

Agriculture influences ammonium and soluble reactive phosphorus retention in South American headwater streams

“…Recent discussions on the water–energy–food nexus (e.g., Amorim et al, ; Reddy, Cunha, & Kurian, ) have been including the improvement of agriculture management and practices as a key element to minimize global risks and promote water quality, ecosystem services, and food security. Many regions in Brazil and Argentina have been undergoing significant expansion of the agricultural frontier into natural biomes and rapid conversion of the original vegetation to pastures and croplands.…”

“…Recent discussions on the water-energy-food nexus (e.g., Reddy, Cunha, & Kurian, 2018) important in low-intensity agricultural streams. As our dataset is admittedly limited, more studies are required to delineate the nutrient retention capacities of streams in these regions and how they are influenced by agriculture.…”