Assessing the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus at the US County Level from a Production Perspective: Hot Spots of Production and Water-vulnerability

The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus refers to intersections among food, energy, and water systems that have large impacts on natural resources (water, energy, nutrients), on pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and on... [ view full abstract ]

The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus refers to intersections among food, energy, and water systems that have large impacts on natural resources (water, energy, nutrients), on pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and on the security of FEW supplies essential to the wellbeing of the world’s population (Ramaswami et al., n.d.). A holistic approach to solving FEW Nexus problems is necessary for policymakers and technocrats who wish to secure food, energy, and water supplies simultaneously and in a sustainable manner (Hussey & Pittock, 2012; Ringler, Bhaduri, & Lawford, 2013). However, most FEW Nexus publications detail case studies with uncertain generalizability, or utilize national datasets whose geographic scope is unsuitable for subnational policy decisions (Faeth & Hanson, 2016; King & Carbajales-Dale, 2016).  As cities and counties face the economic and environmental consequences of FEW sector interactions particularly in the context of water vulnerability, and have some governance authority over some of these sectors, we conduct an analysis of all 3,142 US counties to ask: a) Which counties are hot spots of FEW production; b) Of these, which counties are vulnerable to water shortages where FEW sector production-level interventions may be most beneficial.

We create a US nationwide sub-national FEW Nexus interaction dataset for US counties by aggregating agriproduct and energy production data with county level water use data.  The dataset characterizing food production by type of food for over 100 common foods and agricultural products (wool, tobacco, etc.), electricity production by 35 different methods of generation (black liquor, landfill gas, etc.), and water use by type of use (irrigation, mining, etc.), water source (ground or surface), and salinity of water (fresh or saline), the FEW Nexus for counties across America can be compared quantitatively. 

 We use county level estimates of groundwater overdraft and seasonal surface water scarcity to assess the water vulnerability of food and energy production for each county.  We identify US Counties that produce relatively large quantity of food with a high rate of groundwater overdrafting or produce a relatively large quantity of energy with a high frequency of seasonal surface water scarcity as “FEW Nexus Hotspots”.  The identified FEW Nexus Hotspots function as leverage points over large portions of US food and energy supply chains currently at risk of depleting local water resources.  These FEW Nexus Hotspots were further characterized.

The authors are grateful for the support of the National Science Foundation (Sustainability Research Networks award, #1444745).