Defining priority interconnections in Latin America and the Caribbean

MARTIN, LIBER ALEXIS

Simposio; High Level Panel Session, Water-Food-Energy Nexus; 2017

Lack of information, a great regional heterogeneity and weak governance constitutes serious obstacles in order to identify priority interconnections. Despite this fact, this ECLAC/GIZ study synthesizes the nexus interactions that are critical for most of the LAC region?s countries. a) Water-energy: hydropower, hydrocarbons and miningHydroelectricity is the main source of power offering most future growth in the majority of South and Central American countries. Large-scale hydropower demonstrates multiple interconnections and excessive dependence on this source, considering climate change and variability, simultaneously threatens water, energy and food security in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and some in the Caribbean.The exploitation of hydrocarbons and mining demands variable quantities of water and energy, which can seriously affect the environment and the quality of water resources. This interconnection is highly relevant throughout almost the entire region, but very especially in the Andean countries, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and some in Central America. The relationship could become especially intense when hydraulic fracturing techniques are used. The use of water for energy does not compare with water use for agriculture in quantity (except in arid or semiarid regions), but it is the use that causes the most social unrest.b) Energy-water: Water abstraction, use and desalinationThe largest energy cost in relation to water in the region occurs in the abstraction stages of groundwater, conveyance and use, which include irrigation. This interconnection must especially consider the subsidy level for extraction, aquifer overexploitation and the inefficiency of irrigation systems and pumping equipment. The relevance of groundwater and growing dependence on it are shared throughout the region with an emphasis on Central America and Mexico, where it amounts to 65% of consumed water and in the desert or semidesert areas of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. The increasing overexploitation of aquifers presents interrelations with the three nexus elements by impacting water quantity and quality, removing land from production and increasing the energy costs of extracting it. Currently, energy consumption is not significant in water treatment or seawater desalination, which are confined to isolated areas for highly profitable activities (mainly in Chile, Mexico, Peru and some Caribbean countries).c) Water-food: AgricultureThe importance of agriculture must be understood in relation to regional peculiarities where large-scale practice and expansion, mainly for exporting, have a direct relationship with deforestation, single crop growing, diffuse pollution, sedimentation, erosion and flooding, the displacement of the local population and the impact of family agriculture, essential for food in the region. Its relevance is key for the region in terms of water consumption, participation in the gross domestic product, and employment affecting almost all the countries in the region.d) Water-energy-food: biofuels and irrigation modernizationAgriculture for energy production or biofuels not only share the impacts of large-scale agriculture, but also affects food availability and price. The development of biofuels is particularly relevant in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and, to a lesser extent, Peru, Colombia and Costa Rica. The relationship between the three elements can also be observed in irrigation modernization, with its well known consequences.