598
These advancements create significant opportunities to more effectively obtain and
employ data in support of better understanding and managing of FEW systems and
forecasting how systems will respond to internal and external changes.
Notable examples of opportunities to advance FEW systems data include “smart”
agricultural, water, and manufacturing operations that generate data using sensors,
detailed supply chain data, systems databases that describe all aspects of FEW systems
processes in a coherent environment, public–private and private-private partnerships
on data sharing between organizations, and differential privacy tools to allow appropriate and safe access to data by various parties with various levels of access and trust.
21.3.5 Models
In Chap. 15, we reviewed the state of the art in modeling for FEW systems and the
challenges in developing integrated modeling tools. In particular, we emphasize the
challenge imposed upon modeling by the independent, siloed, decision-making of
different actors who often prefer single-system models tailored to the details of their
“silo” with only minimal consideration of the other connected systems.
However, as noted above, certain situations provide significant impetus for
developing integrated models to support integrated FEW management solutions—
acutely scarcities, consequential externalities, and compelling potential benefits. In
such situations, successful models are based on the most important and shared
needs of stakeholders, tailored to the spatial and temporal requirements of science
and decision-making, and addressing system vulnerabilities and resilience to human
and natural stressors. Integrated Assessment Models are whole-system models that
aim to evaluate the systemic effects of policies and trends. Communities of science
and practice can play an important role in shaping effective models. In addition to
system and optimization models, much of the nexus modeling is about quantifying
and analyzing trade-offs. These tools are scale and stakeholderdependent (Daher
and Mohtar 2015; Miralles-Wilhelm 2016).
While models of FEW systems that can project outcomes under different possible scenarios of the future are needed for decision support, there are significant
challenges and opportunities for advancing in this area of knowledge. In this book,
we noted and have described a number of powerful models, including the following:
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)—Global Change Assessment
Model (GCAM)
• USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—Automated Geospatial
Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA)
• Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)—Land & Water Division
(NRL): Diagnostic, Financial, and Institutional Tool for Investment in Water for
Agriculture
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning
System)
B. Kinne et al.
These advancements create significant opportunities to more effectively obtain and
employ data in support of better understanding and managing of FEW systems and
forecasting how systems will respond to internal and external changes.
Notable examples of opportunities to advance FEW systems data include “smart”
agricultural, water, and manufacturing operations that generate data using sensors,
detailed supply chain data, systems databases that describe all aspects of FEW systems
processes in a coherent environment, public–private and private-private partnerships
on data sharing between organizations, and differential privacy tools to allow appropriate and safe access to data by various parties with various levels of access and trust.
21.3.5 Models
In Chap. 15, we reviewed the state of the art in modeling for FEW systems and the
challenges in developing integrated modeling tools. In particular, we emphasize the
challenge imposed upon modeling by the independent, siloed, decision-making of
different actors who often prefer single-system models tailored to the details of their
“silo” with only minimal consideration of the other connected systems.
However, as noted above, certain situations provide significant impetus for
developing integrated models to support integrated FEW management solutions—
acutely scarcities, consequential externalities, and compelling potential benefits. In
such situations, successful models are based on the most important and shared
needs of stakeholders, tailored to the spatial and temporal requirements of science
and decision-making, and addressing system vulnerabilities and resilience to human
and natural stressors. Integrated Assessment Models are whole-system models that
aim to evaluate the systemic effects of policies and trends. Communities of science
and practice can play an important role in shaping effective models. In addition to
system and optimization models, much of the nexus modeling is about quantifying
and analyzing trade-offs. These tools are scale and stakeholderdependent (Daher
and Mohtar 2015; Miralles-Wilhelm 2016).
While models of FEW systems that can project outcomes under different possible scenarios of the future are needed for decision support, there are significant
challenges and opportunities for advancing in this area of knowledge. In this book,
we noted and have described a number of powerful models, including the following:
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)—Global Change Assessment
Model (GCAM)
• USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—Automated Geospatial
Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA)
• Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)—Land & Water Division
(NRL): Diagnostic, Financial, and Institutional Tool for Investment in Water for
Agriculture
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning
System)
B. Kinne et al.