Archive for April, 2017

Hydropower Boom in China and Along Asia’s Rivers Outpaces Regional Electricity Demand

Via Third Pole.net, a report on whether the expansion of hydropower is Asia will shift the region towards a low carbon future, or simply over exploit a fragile ecosystem: For the past two decades, China has been in the midst of an unprecedented dam-building boom, developing over 300 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower. But coal-fuelled development […]

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Google’s Data Center Raises The Stakes In South Carolina’s ‘Water Wars’

Via Mashable, an article on how Google’s data center is raises the stakes in South Carolina’s ‘water wars’: Endless emails, map requests, web searches, and everything else we do online requires the use of energy-hungry, water-guzzling data centers.  For Google, that enormous thirst for water is causing controversy near Charleston, South Carolina, where the tech giant […]

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The Parched Tiger: How Politics and Electricity in Punjab Combine to Prevent Groundwater Reform

Via Future Directions International, a report on how politics and electricity in Punjab combine to prevent groundwater reform: The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has stated that groundwater levels in 67 per cent of the Indian state of Punjab have dropped in 65 per cent of wells tested in August 2016, compared to August 2015, […]

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Water Flows In China’s Grid

Courtesy of China Water Risk, a look at how water consumption of thermal power generation means electricity-exporting provinces are also exporting water: Embedded water is everywhere, from the shirts we wear to the cereals we eat, not to mention beef. Less well-known is the water that transits through electricity grids, that is, the water used […]

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Hydropower Vs. Irrigation

Via Robert McGrath’s blog, an article on a recent report on the nexus between dams and irrigation: A new study by Ruijie Zeng and colleagues at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, examines the relationship between hydropower (dams) and irrigation (mainly for food production [1]. Hydropower dams are often assumed to benefit agriculture, catching and regulating wild […]

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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.”