Exploring social-ecological interactions to understand the water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus in Alpine Catchments

Résumé fourni par la source

The Alps play a crucial role in provisioning and regulating water supply for densely populated and agricultural intensive downstream regions. However, changes to their hydrology due to the climate crisis is already affecting the availability of water for energy generation, drinking water supply, irrigation and ecosystems. With water scarcity expected to occur more frequently, understanding the interrelationships between water dependent sectors, i.e., the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus, is critical to inform coherent water allocation and management. While Nexus assessments have primarily focused on biophysical aspects, this study highlights the importance of investigating the social and governance factors that so predominantly shape water scarcity. We developed a methodological framework using the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) and the Network of Action Situations (NAS) to characterise water, energy, food, and ecosystems interlinkages across ecological, social and governance processes. We apply the framework to the Orco catchment in Northern Italy which has faced recurrent water scarcity and droughts in the last 20 years. We show that trade-offs across and within sectors arose because of the impact of climate change, sectoral socio-economic drivers and an underlying issue of overallocation of water resources. Yet, clear signs of coordination across sectors are also observed in long-term water resources planning in the short-term response to droughts through, both institutional and informal governance processes. The integration of the CLD and NAS methods allowed to map the cause-effect chain that leads to trade-offs between sectoral development goals and to reach a deeper understanding of the root causes of water scarcity.

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