A strategic perspective on rivers processes and infrastructure in the water-energy-food nexus

Rivers are hotspots of biodiversity, provide important ecosystem services, and are crucial biophysical connectors in the water, food, and energy nexus. Harnessing benefits from rivers, e.g., for hydropower and irrigation typically requires infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, which impact river processes and create negative externalities for people and nature. Current planning of water infrastructure does not commonly consider those impacts across scales and domains, resulting in avoidable environmental impacts and endangering the resilience of water, energy, and food systems in profound, but often overlooked, ways. This talk will give an introduction in how river processes are crucial for sustainable water-energy-food systems. Based on my research in the Mekong and other large rivers, I will discuss concepts of system-scale strategic planning as a prerequisite to resolve pressing ecologic-economic trade-offs in water infrastructure development.

Speaker: Rafael Schmitt, Stanford University