Fifth World Water Forum Addresses Water-Energy Nexus

Last month, the Fifth World Water Forum took place in Istanbul, Turkey, bringing together a diverse group of nearly 30,000 stakeholders from around the world to convene around the world's most pressing water issues. While the event sparked some controversy, a number of interesting topics were covered in its workshops and discussions, including the water-energy nexus.

The Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based nonprofit research institution with a strong focus on water issues, sent five staff members to Istanbul to participate in this year's World Water Forum. Each had something interesting to say but it was PI's Senior Research Associate, Heather Cooley, who remarked on the water-energy nexus at this year's forum. Ms. Cooley has written extensively about urban and agricultural water efficiency and co-authored a seminal report on desalination and its energy costs in California. If that's not enough to get you excited, Ms. Cooley might even be coming to this year's National River Rally to help us with our four hour Friday workshop on the Water-Energy-Carbon Connection. More on that later.

On the one hand, Heather Cooley had some good things to say about how the World Water Forum addressed the connection between water and energy:

"Organizers of the Fifth World Water Forum demonstrated a much broader understanding of the links between water and energy than in previous years. At the Fourth WWF in Mexico City in 2006, discussions about water and energy largely focused on hydropower. This year, however, there were numerous panel discussions on the water we use to produce energy and the energy we use to produce water."

While its certainly good news that the links between water and energy were discussed, most agreed that not enough was being done to integrate water and energy policies:

"Nearly all panelists agreed that despite these linkages, water and energy policy are rarely integrated. Specifically, we are making energy policies without considering the implications of those policies on water resources. For example, efforts to increase biofuel production have had adverse impacts on water supply and quality. Likewise, seawater desalination is being pursued without concern about the energy use associated with these facilities. More tools are needed that allow policy- and decision-makers to evaluate the water and energy implications of their policies."

Luckily, River Network and other groups including the Pacific Institute are trying to address these very issues. Increasing integration between water and energy policies and will help ensure that both these scarce resources are used sustainably. As the climate changes, helping people understand how water and energy are connected will be vital to protecting the health and biodiversity our rivers, lakes and streams. While we are working hard at raising the issue, more needs to be done. As Heather remarks:

"More tools are needed that allow policy- and decision-makers to evaluate the water and energy implications of their policies. The Pacific Institute's Water-to-Air model, which can help water managers understand the energy and greenhouse gas implications of their water management decisions, is one such tool to help us better incorporate the water/energy link into our planning."

Curious about PI's Water-to-Air Model? Well, you can check it out and download it here. Don' worry if you can't figure out how to use, that's one of the reasons we are trying to get Heather out to the National River Rally--that is, to introduce water-energy tools and train participants in how to use them. Again, more on our Rally workshop on water-energy tools later.

For more information on what the folks from Pacific Institute had to say about the Fifth WWF, click here.