Nexus Webs: A conceptual framework for the linkages and trade-offs between water use and human livelihood

[摘要] Water resources provide a myriad of benefits to society and consequently have high social, environmental and economic value. Water resource development underpins economic and population growth, so access to water resources is critical for alleviation of poverty. Yet water resources are finite. In some regions there is increasing awareness that the level of water use is unsustainable and inequitable. Pressure on water resources for a range of contested uses will grow because of increasing demand for water and future declines in supply in some regions due to climate change. Difficult trade-off decisions exist over contested water uses between competing values and sectors, including food production, hydro-power generation and environmental demands (the water-food-energy-environment nexus), especially in large trans-boundary drainage basins. There is a need for new and robust approaches, methods and tools that can facilitate integration and decision-making across different scales, sectors and decision contexts. In this technical report we describe the Nexus Webs: a trade-off framework for use in water resource management, particularly in international trans-boundary water resource development. We emphasise its features and design principles for explicit inclusion of all forms of water use and their effects on assets, (including natural and agricultural ecosystems, biodiversity and built infrastructure), the effects on the supply of ecosystem services and how these in turn affect livelihoods and wellbeing. We outline approaches for its use in decision-making around tradeoffs that are socially inclusive and equitable.

[发布日期] 2013-06-30 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)