Archive for October, 2012

California’s Water-Energy Nexus Studied in White Paper

Courtesy of the Association of California Water Agencies, a report on California’s watergy challenge: A white paper on actions that can be undertaken by California’s water sector to help achieve the state’s energy efficiency and environmental goals is now available online. The paper, called California’s Water-Energy Nexus: Pathways to implementation, was written on behalf of […]

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Report: Energy Production Threatens To Strain Nation’s Water Supply

Via The Hill, a look at a recent US Government Accountability Organization (GAO) report on the watergy nexus: The federal government must better monitor the nation’s water supply as expanded domestic energy production threatens to further strain water resources, warns a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Tuesday. With an earlier Congressional Research Service study […]

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Water + Energy = A Texas Nexus

Courtesy of the Triple Pundit, a report on Texas’ impending watergy challenge: If you haven’t yet heard the term “water-energy nexus” – you will.  Even if you haven’t heard the term, you will likely feel the impact of the water-energy nexus at some point in the near future. Simply put, there is a critical link […]

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Can the Energy Sector Adapt to Drought?

Via The River Network, a report on the watergy challenge facing the energy sector: This summer has been a call-to-action for those of us following water and energy issues. Starting in July, power plant shutdowns in Illinois and then on the Connecticut River demonstrated the vulnerability of thermoelectric power when too much waste heat looks […]

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Freshwater Use By Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst For A Scarce Resource

Via Coyote Gulch, a look back at a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and a more recent editorial from the Denver Post: Here’s a guest commentary about the report, running in The Denver Post (Alice Madden/Peter C. Frumhoff). Here’s an excerpt: Electricity generation from coal and nuclear plants requires water — a […]

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Does China Have Enough Water To Keep Building Three Power Stations A Week?

Via China Dialogue, a report on how Chinese cities like Beijing and farming heartlands are at risk of water shortages from the nation’s surging demand for power: China builds an average of three new power stations a week; by 2030 it plans to add more power capacity than exists in the US, the UK and […]

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About This Blog And Its Author
As the scarcity of water and energy continues to grow, the linkage between these two critical resources will become more defined and even more acute in the months ahead.  This blog is committed to analyzing and referencing articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between water and energy -- The Watergy Nexus -- and will endeavor to provide a central clearinghouse for insightful articles and comments for all to consider.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy.  Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation.  He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”