Water, energy and food nexus of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is presented in the light of water governance. The water governance doctrine refers to social, economic, administrative and political systems influencing the transboundary water use and management. Water governance means who gets what water, when and how much, and who has the right to water related benefits. Indus Water Treaty is cited to be one of the few successful settlements of boundary water basin conflicts that has stood the test of times since last six decades. Riparian states have opportunities of harvesting water, power and agriculture by compliance to accords in letter and spirit. IWT restrains both (India) and lower (Pakistan) riparian from pulling out of accord from fear of deadly consequences. IWT is founded on World Bank’s professionally prepared comprehensive terms and conditions keeping in mind future regional developments. This treaty has given control of three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) to India and three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to Pakistan. IWT gives both countries genuine share of eastern/western waters for domestic use, agriculture and electricity generation using Run-of-River Plants, subject to observing minimum level of water flow into lower riparian at Head Marala Barrage. Water, energy and food nexus of this treaty bonds upper and lower riparian to comply with water governance principles. Upper riparian diverted 34 million acre feet (MAF) water out of eastern rivers before entering into Pakistan and launched run-of-river power plants spree on western rivers in last two decades. Restricting water flow to lower riparian in the name of pond filling needs attention. Unrestricted use of water in run-of-river power plants is pointed out to be a limiting factor in Indus Water Treaty. Continuum of cooperation has room for collaboration under Indus Water Treaty. India and Pakistan can sort out disputes by dialogue, in light of rights and needs, rather Harmon Doctrine.

Cities are complex and evolving systems with various factors playing key roles, e.g., population increase, the migration of population, the availability of resources, and the flexibility of policies. Consumers’ socioeconomic status is also an important aspect that needs to be studied in the context of a self-reliant urban city in its resource consumption. In this regard, the association between water–food and socio-economic attributes was analyzed based on the consumer-centric approach for the Hyderabad Metro Development Authority (HMDA) region, India. In this study, the embedded water content in food consumption was estimated and analyzed for nine food groups and twelve economic classes of the HMDA region. The middle economic classes were found to correspond to ~80% of embedded water content in the HMDA region, followed by the upper and lower economic classes. Except for cereals, per capita, the water consumption of all food groups increased with the spending power of the economic class. The green, blue, and grey consumption water footprints (WFs) suggested that much of the water that is being consumed in the HMDA region is precipitation-driven, followed by surface and groundwater resources. Limited water resources, water resource variability, climate change consequences including future climate projections, uncertainty in data, WF estimates, and region’s future growth imply a detailed study in drafting policies to become a self-reliant region.

Ground water tables in Punjab are declining at alarming rates in most districts of Punjab. One of the major causes of declining water tables is the increased cropping intensity. Whereas cropping intensity in Punjab was only 120% until about 50 years ago, it is now 190%. With one crop per year, a balance was maintained between water extraction and aquifer recharge. With two crops per year, this balance has been altered. Homogenization of crops in the state has also exacerbated the problem. Even more serious threat to nation’s agriculture is climate change. Himalayan glaciers, which are water towers for our rivers, are retreating. This will reduce the water flow in our rivers. While the climate-change impact on our water availability is several years away, we must address immediate problem of declining water tables in the state. Suggested interventions include crop diversification, precision agriculture, including water saving technologies, and developing crop varieties with improved water-use efficiency.

Food and water security have moved to the top of the global agenda following the food and energy price increases that started in 2007. Addressing the food, water and energy nexus is considered increasingly important for transparently and equitably meeting increasing global demand without compromising sustainability. This paper argues that given the unique regional and sector challenges of food, water and energy security, their nexus must be deconstructed to find effective, contextualized solutions. And governance challenges are at the heart of the nexus in each region. Governance is defined in various ways, but, with a few notable exceptions, the definitions have undergone relatively little analysis. In turn, governance issues are imbedded in policy, institutional, technological and financing options exercised at the global, regional, national and local levels. Furthermore, strong interactions between levels prompt policy responses to specific events and outcomes. The cu rent governance arrangements, where they exist at all, are woefully inadequate to address the challenges. They are imbedded in a lack of strategic clarity, and among stakeholders there is an unequal distribution of power, voice and access to information, resources and the capability to exercise a sound influence which will produce equitable and sustainable outcomes. Often there are huge tradeoffs between the short-term wins of individual stakeholders and long-term holistic solutions. This paper uses illustrative examples from recent global developments, as well as from China and India, to make the case for placing empirical analysis of governance issues at the top of the global agenda. At each level, governance is ues affect the choice of policies, institutions and outcomes for addressing these daunting challenges.