Water as a key enabler of nexus systems (water-energy-food)

Abstract

This review article positions water front-and-center as a key enabler of water–energy–food (WEF)nexus systems. It demonstrates the critical role of water in human civilization, progress, anddevelopment, including how water is central to the achievement of many of the United Nations’sustainable development goals. It is suggested that water may in fact bethemost importantresource needed in a broader WEF nexus context, as well as in the broader scope of humandevelopment. The review shows the consequences of‘watergoing wrong’–when there is too muchor too little, and the global impacts of increasing frequency of such events, largely due to an evermore‘hyperconnected’world. The review concludes by urging greater‘nexus awareness’andsystems thinking, especially in policy and decision-making, while cautioning against the poten-tially ironic situation of returning to a sectoral, water-centric view of resources management.