Relational analysis of the resource nexus in arid land crop production

Violeta Cabello,Ansel Renner,Mario Giampietro

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.06.014

Abstract

While a large number of descriptive studies have delineated the interlinkages between water, food and energy resources in the last decade, there is still need for systematic conceptualization of resource nexus interconnections. This paper proposes a theory of relational analysis of the nexus based on the analytical concept of nexus networks. A taxonomy of nexus interconnections, detailing sequential and hierarchical connections, is characterized between and amongst the technosphere and biosphere. We illustrate the use of a novel diagnostic tool with regard to its ability to integrate macro-, meso- and microscale drivers of nexus problems. We apply this framework to problems generated by intensive crop production for exportation in an arid landscape (driven by external markets) and sustainable management of water resources (driven by public policies) in a southern Spanish region. We elucidate interconnected causal mechanisms for groundwater overexploitation and profile different social-ecological patterns on a spatially-explicit basis. The proposed approach is capable of accounting for the water-energy-food resource nexus in an integrated and multi-level fashion, addressing the tensions generated by both multi-functionality and resource entanglement in complex social-ecological systems.

Highlights

Mainstreamed by international calls for securing resources pressured by entangled global drivers, the water-energy-food nexus notion has gained momentum at an increasing rate in sustainability research and policy agendas
To address the proposed research question, we provide a diagnostic analysis consisting of the interconnected visualization of some variables in food and water processors at different levels in the network, namely, withdrawal rates from aquifers by different irrigation areas, patterns of water resources use in irrigation areas, patterns of land uses in irrigation areas and crop production factors in different farming systems)
Connected aquifers show either low or moderate extractions rates (0.8– 1.1) in those areas with presence of vegetables or lettuce production in open fields (IA2 and IA3). For those aquifers with extraction index over 1.1, Fig. 6(1) presents the annual volume of extraction split by type of irrigation area (IA)

Summary

Introduction

Mainstreamed by international calls for securing resources pressured by entangled global drivers, the water-energy-food nexus notion has gained momentum at an increasing rate in sustainability research and policy agendas. Economic sectors are networks of entities connecting different regions that metabolize extracted resources along production chains (Franz et al, 2017). Nexus difficulties at this level are encountered in cross-sectoral management approaches when bringing together sectors and managing trade-offs between them (PahlWostl, 2017; Stein et al, 2018). Classical examples of nexus problems in this sense include desalination and irrigation efficiency Innovations related to both of these problems add dependencies on energy resources – such as electrical energy to drive water pumps – to the water-food nexus, thereby increasing the structural complexity from a management perspective. As solutions for reducing pressures over fresh water resources emerge, monitoring of

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