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There are inherent challenges related to the downstream impacts of upstream
land uses, including the production of food and energy. In many cases, water is an
input to the production of food (e.g., irrigation for agriculture, water for livestock)
and energy (e.g., hydroelectric dams), and these activities may negative have
impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystem services, such as habitat for fish and
other organisms.
The challenges associated with resource access rights, designated land uses, and
protection of ecosystem services become more difficult when watersheds share
multiple jurisdictional borders and different systems of governance and protection.
Each authority may have unique policies that are driven by economic development
priorities as well as local perceptions and cultural norms that are often disconnected
from the structure and function of ecosystems. Addressing these challenges requires
interdisciplinary scientific approaches in research as well as a synthesis and integration of cross-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary perspectives for effective crossborder watershed governance. The capacity for such integration varies widely across
economic, social, cultural, and political contexts.
This chapter examines the food–energy–water nexus through three case studies
of watersheds that are subject to different pressures from interactions at the nexus.
Each of the watersheds also shares multiple national or regional borders and requires
systems of cross-border governance and resource management. The three case studies include:
(a) the Great Lakes of North America, which is the largest freshwater system in the
world, but faces increasing pressure from nutrient runoff from agriculture, mercury contamination from coal-fired power plants, and significant withdrawals of
water for thermoelectric energy production;
(b) the Amazon River Basin in South America, which is the largest river system on Earth, but faces increasing pressure from the effects of deforestation, the development of hydroelectric dams, and the resulting collapse of
fisheries; and
(c) the Lake Victoria Basin in East Africa, one of the most species-rich lakes in the
world in terms of diversity, but faces increasing pressure from population
growth, the effects of deforestation, rapidly increasing eutrophication, and
declining productivity of fisheries.
In each case, the pressures on the watersheds and their ecosystem services are
related to the linkages in the food–energy–water nexus, but because of the differences in geological, ecological, economic, and sociopolitical contexts, the challenges for cross-border governance vary widely. Each case study describes the
biophysical context; the watershed challenges at the nexus of food, energy, and
water systems; and a description of transboundary governance of each watershed.
Capacity for effective governance is assessed for each watershed across a range of
criteria including institutional capacity, coordination, distributional issues, social
mobility, and the political-economic context.
R. B. Richardson
There are inherent challenges related to the downstream impacts of upstream
land uses, including the production of food and energy. In many cases, water is an
input to the production of food (e.g., irrigation for agriculture, water for livestock)
and energy (e.g., hydroelectric dams), and these activities may negative have
impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystem services, such as habitat for fish and
other organisms.
The challenges associated with resource access rights, designated land uses, and
protection of ecosystem services become more difficult when watersheds share
multiple jurisdictional borders and different systems of governance and protection.
Each authority may have unique policies that are driven by economic development
priorities as well as local perceptions and cultural norms that are often disconnected
from the structure and function of ecosystems. Addressing these challenges requires
interdisciplinary scientific approaches in research as well as a synthesis and integration of cross-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary perspectives for effective crossborder watershed governance. The capacity for such integration varies widely across
economic, social, cultural, and political contexts.
This chapter examines the food–energy–water nexus through three case studies
of watersheds that are subject to different pressures from interactions at the nexus.
Each of the watersheds also shares multiple national or regional borders and requires
systems of cross-border governance and resource management. The three case studies include:
(a) the Great Lakes of North America, which is the largest freshwater system in the
world, but faces increasing pressure from nutrient runoff from agriculture, mercury contamination from coal-fired power plants, and significant withdrawals of
water for thermoelectric energy production;
(b) the Amazon River Basin in South America, which is the largest river system on Earth, but faces increasing pressure from the effects of deforestation, the development of hydroelectric dams, and the resulting collapse of
fisheries; and
(c) the Lake Victoria Basin in East Africa, one of the most species-rich lakes in the
world in terms of diversity, but faces increasing pressure from population
growth, the effects of deforestation, rapidly increasing eutrophication, and
declining productivity of fisheries.
In each case, the pressures on the watersheds and their ecosystem services are
related to the linkages in the food–energy–water nexus, but because of the differences in geological, ecological, economic, and sociopolitical contexts, the challenges for cross-border governance vary widely. Each case study describes the
biophysical context; the watershed challenges at the nexus of food, energy, and
water systems; and a description of transboundary governance of each watershed.
Capacity for effective governance is assessed for each watershed across a range of
criteria including institutional capacity, coordination, distributional issues, social
mobility, and the political-economic context.
R. B. Richardson