Water Energy Food Nexus and Groundwater

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Welcome to WEF-GW Nexus project webpage!

Water, energy, and food are the most critically important resources for society, particularly in meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The demand for these resources will increase in future decades because of climate change, population growth, and socioeconomic forces. This growing demand is creating more trade-offs and conflicts, particularly among groundwater resources and stakeholders in both developed and developing countries. These conflicts have exacerbated the challenges of managing sustainable groundwater and coupled food and energy resources. This complex relationship between water, energy, and food resources and climate change is called the water-energy-food (WEF) Nexus. The proposed research will quantify the impacts and feedbacks of the WEF Nexus and identify how those concepts may help scientists and resource managers design optimal groundwater sustainability (WEF-GW Nexus) plans to best meet diverse stakeholder interests. Our WEF-GW Nexus project uses a transdisciplinary approach that integrates different knowledge systems from developed and developing countries; including those from academic researchers, early-career scientist and students, farmers, and other groundwater users and practitioners from rural and urban communities, local resource agencies, and other stakeholders. We will also hold training and knowledge transfer workshops, creating a dialogue about science and research to advance management, policy, and stakeholder engagement that leads to sustainable groundwater within the WEF-GW Nexus.