Scale dependence of controls on groundwater vulnerability in the water–energy–food nexus, California Coastal Basin aquifer system

Gurdak, Jason J.; Geyer, G.; Nanus, Leora; Taniguchi, Makoto; Corona, C

doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2016.01.002

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The interlinkages between food, energy, and water (FEW) are increasingly recognized in the fledgling FEW nexus literature [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], offering high-level insights into efficient resource use for FEW security. The GEF nexus poses a challenging, yet critical resource management problem that is present in different forms in many countries [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. To date, little attention has been paid to the crippling long-term side effects of inefficient resource management from a GEF nexus perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Groundwater‒Energy‒Food Nexus in Iran’s Agricultural Sector: Implications for Water Security

Mirzaei

Saghafian

Mirchi

et al. 2019

Water

104

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This paper presents the first groundwater‒energy‒food (GEF) nexus study of Iran’s agronomic crops based on national and provincial datasets and firsthand estimates of agricultural groundwater withdrawal. We use agronomic crop production, water withdrawal, and energy consumption data to estimate groundwater withdrawal from electric-powered irrigation wells and examine agronomic productivity in Iran’s 31 provinces through the lens of GEF nexus. The ex-post GEF analysis sheds light on some of the root causes of the nation’s worsening water shortage problems. Access to highly subsidized water (surface water and groundwater) and energy has been the backbone of agricultural expansion policies in Iran, supporting employment in agrarian communities. Consequently, water use for agronomic crop production has greatly overshot the renewable water supply capacity of the country, making water bankruptcy a serious national security threat. Significant groundwater table decline across the country and increasing energy consumption underscore dysfunctional feedback relations between agricultural water and energy price and groundwater withdrawal in an inefficient agronomic sector. Thus, it is essential to implement holistic policy reforms aimed at reducing agricultural water consumption to alleviate the looming water bankruptcy threats, which can lead to the loss of numerous agricultural jobs in the years to come.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Groundwater‒Energy‒Food Nexus in Iran’s Agricultural Sector: Implications for Water Security

Mirzaei

Saghafian

Mirchi

et al. 2019

Water

104

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“…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].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Uddameri

Silva

Singaraju

et al. 2020

Water

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The performance of four tree-based classification techniques-classification and regression trees (CART), multi-adaptive regression splines (MARS), random forests (RF) and gradient boosting trees (GBT) were compared against the commonly used logistic regression (LR) analysis to assess aquifer vulnerability in the Ogallala Aquifer of Texas. The results indicate that the tree-based models performed better than the logistic regression model, as they were able to locally refine nitrate exceedance probabilities. RF exhibited the best generalizable capabilities. The CART model did better in predicting non-exceedances. Nitrate exceedances were sensitive to well depths-an indicator of aquifer redox conditions, which, in turn, was controlled by alkalinity increases brought forth by the dissolution of calcium carbonate. The clay content of soils and soil organic matter, which serve as indicators of agriculture activities, were also noted to have significant influences on nitrate exceedances. Likely nitrogen releases from confined animal feedlot operations in the northeast portions of the study area also appeared to be locally important. Integrated soil, hydrogeological and geochemical datasets, in conjunction with tree-based methods, help elucidate processes controlling nitrate exceedances. 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]. Therefore, individual homeowners are often required to install costly point-of-use treatment systems to mitigate nitrate risks arising from the ingestion of contaminated groundwater [11,12]. However, as nitrate is colorless and odorless, many people do not realize the risk of nitrate contamination and are unwittingly exposed to elevated levels of nitrate over long periods of time [13]. Therefore, nitrate contamination must be prevented through proper land management practices. Additionally, areas with a high susceptibility to nitrate pollution must be carefully delineated, with the goal of increasing public awareness regarding elevated health risks arising from nitrate exposures. Such an effort is also useful to prioritize monitoring activities and ensure that the limited fiscal and logistic resources are being used in a prudent manner.Mapping the susceptibility of aquifers to nitrate contamination is an essential step in mitigating and managing nitrate contamination. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods, such as DRASTIC [14], have been widely used to map aquifer vulnerabili...

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“…Thus, waste treatment and reduction, for example, were considered to be an unavoidable obligation to preserve environmental quality [9]. In the exploration of the WEF nexus, sustainability should include not only reducing energy consumption and waste production, but also providing renewable, clean, and efficient resources [23]. In 2050, the global population is expected to be around 9.8 billion, which will lead to increased WEF consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical Framework for a Relative Sustainability Evaluation of Urbanization on the Water–Energy–Food Nexus Using Simultaneous Equation Analysis

Fan

Lin

2019

IJERPH

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The water–energy–food (WEF) nexus attracts much attention due to the elevated public concern regarding environmental conservation and sustainability. As we head into a new era of civilization, population increase and modernized lifestyles have led to an increasing need for water, energy, and food. However, severe hydrological precipitation significantly impacts agricultural harvest, and such influence becomes more apparent under the influence of climate change. Meanwhile, the major method of electricity generation (i.e., fossil fuel burning) has a negative impact on the environment. These inevitable threats are crucial and have to be dealt with for a society on the road towards sustainability. In the present study, an integrated evaluation of the WEF nexus was conducted for two areas with different levels of urbanization using empirical multiple linear regression in a simultaneous equation model (SEM). By incorporating the collected data into the SEM, the weighting coefficient of each identified variable was obtained, and the nexus implication was assessed in model simulation at different scenarios considering the population growth, agro-technology advancement, energy structure improvement, and available water resources. In the simulated results, three observations were found: (1) the rural area is more sustainable than the urban one; (2) the sustainability for both the investigated areas is significantly subject to their water supply and demand; and (3) food production was found to have a less important effect on the sustainable development of the urban area. This study identified the key factors in the WEF nexus exploration, which are economically and environmentally important for resource allocation. An empirical model was developed to correlate sustainable achievement with WEF management, as well as strategic policies that should be implemented under the pressure of urbanization.

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Scale dependence of controls on groundwater vulnerability in the water–energy–food nexus, California Coastal Basin aquifer system

Cited by 20 publications

References 25 publications

The Groundwater‒Energy‒Food Nexus in Iran’s Agricultural Sector: Implications for Water Security

The Groundwater‒Energy‒Food Nexus in Iran’s Agricultural Sector: Implications for Water Security

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

Empirical Framework for a Relative Sustainability Evaluation of Urbanization on the Water–Energy–Food Nexus Using Simultaneous Equation Analysis

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