Abstract
Population and industry growth in dry climates are fully tied to significant increase in water and energy demands. Because water affects many economic, social and environmental aspects, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to solve current and future water scarcity problems, and to minimize energy requirements in water production. Such a task requires integrated water modeling tools able to couple surface water and groundwater, which allow for managing complex basins where multiple stakeholders and water users face an intense competition for limited freshwater resources. This work develops an integrated water resource management model to investigate the water-energy nexus in reducing water stress in the Copiapó River basin, an arid, highly vulnerable basin in northern Chile. The model was utilized to characterize groundwater and surface water resources, and water demand and uses. Different management scenarios were evaluated to estimate future resource availability, and compared in terms of energy requirements and costs for desalinating seawater to eliminate the corresponding water deficit. Results show a basin facing a very complex future unless measures are adopted. When a 30% uniform reduction of water consumption is achieved, 70 GWh over the next 30 years are required to provide the energy needed to increase the available water through seawater desalination. In arid basins, this energy could be supplied by solar energy, thus addressing water shortage problems through integrated water resource management combined with new technologies of water production driven by renewable energy sources.
Highlights
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a coordinated process to control the development and use of water assets to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare, by addressing management issues through the application of knowledge from multiple disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders [1,2]
We present the description of the Copiapó River basin and the methods used to gather the data and to perform the basin’s hydrogeological characterization, which are relevant for the development of the IWRM model
An IWRM model was developed to investigate the relationship between water and energy to reduce water stress in the arid, highly vulnerable Copiapó river basin
Summary
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a coordinated process to control the development and use of water assets to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare, by addressing management issues through the application of knowledge from multiple disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders [1,2]. IWRM has become a paradigm for water resources planning and management It considers water as a multidimensional resource that must be understood from the purely hydrological point of view, and from socioeconomic, political, administrative, and environmental dimensions [3]. For this reason, a deep interdisciplinary integration is required to solve current and future problems that arise in complex watersheds, where multiple stakeholders and water users compete for valuable and limited resources such as freshwater, food or energy [4,5,6]. Leidel et al [14] investigated the concept of capacity development to evaluate social and political circumstances, identify main stakeholders, existing competencies and expected difficulties to implement IWRM
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
