Modelling the Water-Energy-Food NEXUS in the Val di Cornia UNESCO Ecohydrological Observatory. A FREEWAT-Q3 implementation.

Abstract

Effectively addressing the water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) Nexus at watershed scale requires the need of software tools to support planning towards sustainable development, even in the medium-long term. Because spatial data are largely available and hydrologic models starts to be common tools to manage the water resources, expanding modelling capabilities to the WEFE Nexus may provide valuable support. Within the NEXUS NESS PRIMA project (www.prima-nexus-ness.org/) the free & open source FREEWAT-Q3 software for water resources management is developed. FREEWAT is a free and open source, QGIS integrated interface for planning and management of water resources, with specific reference to groundwater. The FREEWAT platform couples the power of GIS geo-processing and post-processing tools in spatial data analysis with that of process-based simulation models. The FREEWAT environment allows storage of large spatial datasets, data management and visualization, and running of several distributed modelling codes (mainly belonging to the USGS MODFLOW family). The ongoing FREEWAT-Q3 version works from QGIS 3.30 version. It includes the following codes: MODFLOW-2005, MODPATH, MT3D-USGS, SEAWAT, along with codes for conjunctive use of surface and groundwater (MF-OWHM v.2.0) and for the simulation of crop yield at harvest. A WEFE NEXUS toolbox provides capabilities to include NEXUS related indicators in the analyses. The code is freely distributed along with a set of tutorials, dataset, and learning material. The software is applied to the Val di Cornia Ecohydrological Observatory (Italy), a watershed scale laboratory for investigating the long-term impact of climate change and the intertwined direct impacts caused by human activities on the water resources, and to assess nature-based solutions effectiveness. The implementation of a model whose construction and maintenance is shared with the main stakeholders in the area (united under the umbrella of a NEXUS Ecosystem Lab) greatly supports the path towards sustainable development at the watershed scale.   Acknowledgement This contribution is presented within the framework of the NEXUS-NESS project. The NEXUS-NESS received funding from the PRIMA Programme, an Art.185 initiative supported and funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.