The review papers presented in this special issue all derive from an NSF sponsored workshop held in January 2017, in College Station, Texas: FEW Nexus Workshop on Integrated Science, Engineering, and Policy: a Multi Stakeholder Dialogue Symposium. The workshop was organized by the Texas AM WEF Nexus Initiative, and their scientific committee partners: Prairie View AM and Texas AM-San Antonio, Purdue University, Ohio State University, National Council for Science and Environment (NCSE), Columbia University, World Wildlife Federation, University of Texas, Rice University, Los Alamos National Lab, Future Earth, Texas Christian University, Circle of Blue, University of California-Riverside, International Food Policy Research Institute, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, University of New Mexico, Pennsylvania State University, University of Minnesota, and Water Future. The papers represent the work of the scientists and professionals hailing from the private and industrial sectors, government agencies, and research and educational institutions.

Globally, water is a bottleneck to food security and, as such, a new approach for water for food is needed. Food insecurity is knocking at every nation's door, including those of the most developed. Moreover, the disruptions in food supply chains that result from continued reliance on a business-as-usual approach of traditional, non-sustainable food and agricultural systems make food insecurity even more vividly present. This article explores the current relationship between food production and water resources. It attempts to better understand how we might reduce the inter-dependencies between food and fresh water by exploring new and alternative sources of water, including improving the efficiencies of green and recycled water. Copyright © 2022 Mohtar and Fares.

Recognizing the urgent need to focus on sustainability in the water–energy–food nexus (WEF nexus) together with tools to analyze and approaches to govern the linkages at different scales, the Global Water System Project, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, and the CGIAR Research Program on Water Land and Ecosystems organized an international conference, Sustainability in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus, in Bonn, Germany, in 2014. The conference addressed sustainability in the WEF nexus as a key research-for-action initiative, and included an international policy consultation process to inform, influence and catalyze action of policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, educators and researchers towards a nexus approach that both draws on and supports the environment. The conference brought together available information, identified knowledge and action gaps, shared lessons on viable instruments and approaches, facilitated networks, and contributed to consensus on priorities for appropriate investment and action by different actors and stakeholders for moving towards action on the WEF nexus. This special issue is an outcome of that conference, and contains significant pieces of work on the WEF nexus that were presented at the conference focusing on relevant tools, solutions and governance at different scales.

One possible approach for addressing water and food insecurity involves food production, trade, and water used elsewhere. In this study, we introduce a water footprint for Korean rice products and focus on the impacts of localized cultivation and water supply systems on the water footprint. In addition, we discuss several studies on the application of water footprint and virtual water trade in water and food management in Korea. Finally, we suggest the role of water footprint and virtual water trade in sustainable resource management through a water-energy-food nexus approach. © 2018, © 2018 International Water Resources Association.

The 2017 Texas Water Development Board's State Water Plan predicts a 41% gap between water demand and existing supply by 2070. This reflects an overall projection, but the challenge will affect various regions of the state differently. Texas has 16 regional water planning zones characterized by distinct populations, water demands, and existing water supplies. Each is expected to face variations of pressures, such as increased agricultural and energy development (particularly hydraulic fracturing) and urban growth that do not necessarily follow the region's water plan. Great variability in resource distribution and competing resource demands across Texas will result in the emergence of distinct hotspots, each with unique characteristics that require multiple, localized, interventions to bridge the statewide water gap. This study explores three such hotspots: 1) water-food competition in Lubbock and the potential of producing 3 billion gallons of treated municipal waste water and encouraging dryland agriculture; 2) implementing Low Impact Developments (LIDs) for agriculture in the City of San Antonio, potentially adding 47 billion gallons of water supply, but carrying a potentially high financial cost; and 3) water-energy interrelations in the Eagle Ford Shale in light of well counts, climate dynamics, and population growth. The growing water gap is a state wide problem that requires holistic assessments that capture the impact on the tightly interconnected water, energy, and food systems. Better understanding the trade-offs associated with each 'solution’ and enabling informed dialogue between stakeholders, offers a basis for formulating localized policy recommendations specific to each hotspot. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Nations, particularly those with well-established infrastructure, have started to look for new, innovative solutions to address the expected, inevitable high demand for primary resources. The WEF (water-energy-food) Nexus approach, which holistically considers the dynamic interlinkages between water, energy, and food resources, has come to the forefront within scientific and practice communities. Supporters assert that sustainable solutions can be revealed through the use of this approach, rather than conventional approaches that often overlook the interlinkages. The authors developed a holistic framework to provide sustainable scenarios that include feasible infrastructure interventions. The framework focuses on water and associated links with other resources, includes a unique analytic tool for quantifying scenarios, and ultimately produces a sustainability analysis of each scenario. Optimal scenarios are offered that consider site-specific dynamic resource interlinkages. The platform was applied to the case study of Matagorda County, Texas, identified as one of the most water-stressed regions in the state of Texas by the Texas Water Development Board, the state's executive agency for water resources management. High demands from energy and agriculture sectors in the county and sharp population increase in the upper basins, which include the city of Austin, have put great pressures on the water resources of Matagorda County. Farmers have been forced to change their crops from high to lower water-demand crops, in spite of apparent and relatively abundant local water resources. The findings of the case study present a most sustainable scenario, including infrastructure interventions that will increase the annual income of agriculture sector from $188 million to $239 million. The approach also helps preserve resources while reducing annual water and energy demand by 22 million m3 and 21 million kWh, respectively, and does not sacrifice on-going municipal and industrial water use or energy production in Matagorda, Texas. © 2019 Kulat, Mohtar and Olivera.

Renewable energy technologies can address trade-offs between water, energy and food, bringing substantial benefits in all three key sectors. This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) looks at how adopting renewables can ease trade-offs by providing less resource-intensive energy services compared to conventional energy technologies. An energy system with substantial shares of renewable energy would be less water-intensive than one dependent on fossil fuels. Renewable energy technologies can boost water security by improving accessibility, affordability and safety. Integrating renewable energy in the agrifood supply chain helps to rein in cost volatility, bolster energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to long-term food sustainability. Modern bioenergy – sustainably and efficiently managed – could play an important role in these ongoing transformations.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has the largest water deficit in the world. It also has the least food self-sufficiency. Increasing food imports and decreasing domestic food production can contribute to water savings and hence to increased water security. However, increased domestic food production is a better way to achieve food security, even if irrigation demands an increase in accordance with projected climate changes. Accordingly, the trade-off between food security and the savings of water and land through food trade is considered to be a significant factor for resource management, especially in the MENA region. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the impact of food trade on food security and water-land savings in the MENA region. We concluded that the MENA region saved significant amounts of national water and land based on the import of four major crops, namely, barley, maize, rice, and wheat, within the period from 2000 to 2012, even if the food self-sufficiency is still at a low level. For example, Egypt imported 8.3&thinsp;million&thinsp;t&thinsp;yr<span classCombining double low lineinline-formula>ĝ'1</span> of wheat that led to 7.5&thinsp;billion&thinsp;m<span classCombining double low lineinline-formula>3</span> of irrigation water and 1.3&thinsp;million&thinsp;ha of land savings. In addition, we estimated the virtual water trade (VWT) that refers to the trade of water embedded in food products and analyzed the structure of VWT in the MENA region using degree and eigenvector centralities. The study revealed that the MENA region focused more on increasing the volume of virtual water imported during the period 2006-2012, yet little attention was paid to the expansion of connections with country exporters based on the VWT network analysis. © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

This perspective highlights a place for Health (H) in the Water, Energy, and Water (WEF) nexus. It reviews the reference to health in the WEF nexus literature and makes the case for its inclusion into the WEF Nexus. We argue that although the nexus concept of water, energy, and food is relatively recent, it has been adopted by several UN agencies and international organizations and it will continue to draw emphasis in research, politics and communications of the scientific community. Now is the time to integrate health. Copyright © 2022 Nuwayhid and Mohtar.