The Energy-Water Nexus and information exchange: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

In the near future, the USA will be facing constraints on energy availability owing to the heightened demand for both energy and water, especially during droughts and summers. This is especially true in the American Southwest. Increasing stress on the inextricably linked resource availability of both water and energy can be mitigated with integrated planning. Exchanging data is an important component to current and future mitigation approaches within the Energy-Water Nexus (EWN). We describe the types of relationships that are formed in the US EWN, and address the data-sharing obstacles. Approaches to removing such obstacles are presented, based on case studies.