Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Mekong River: Political Realities Could Undermine Possible Solution to the Co-Existence of Hydropower and Food Production

Via Future Directions International, a look at how politics could undermine a potential solution to the co-existence of power generation and food production along the Mekong River: The Mekong River underpins the food security of millions of South-East Asians. The 4,350 kilometre-long river runs through China, Burma/ Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Upstream riparians […]

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Water & Energy Paradox

Via Live Quality, a look at the watergy nexus: In order for us to produce energy, we need to use massive amounts of water. But to use water, we need a great deal of energy to process the water. Let’s take a look at how much water is used to supply power to America. According […]

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Water Smart Power

Via EDF, interesting commentary on the role that water plays in energy resiliency: Energy Secretary Rick Perry is trying to prop up coal and nuclear companies under the guise of enhanced “resiliency.” The Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal does not define resiliency, nor does it even make clear what resiliency means in the context of the electric […]

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Brazil’s Itaipú Dam Treaty With Paraguay Up For Renewal

Via The Financial Times, a look at Brazil’s Itaipu dam and its treaty with Paraguay: Celso Villar Torino, the Brazilian superintendent of operations at the Itaipú mega-dam, beams as he shows off a series of plaques outside his office. We are talking in a building whose six storeys are dwarfed by the colossal dam’s 200m-high […]

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Water-Energy Nexus in the Himalayas

Via the Wilson Center’s New Security Beat, an article on The region at the base of the Himalayas faces difficult tradeoffs when allocating freshwater resources for energy production versus agricultural, industrial, and domestic uses. This is one of the most ecologically unstable areas on Earth, and weather patterns are becoming increasingly irregular. On one end of the spectrum, water shortages frequently […]

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As Oil Patch Demands More Water, West Texas Fights Over A Scarce Resource

Via the Houston Chronicle, a look at the watergy crisis in West Texas: A West Texas land baron and oilman is on the verge of pumping 5.4 million gallons of water a day from far under the desert mountains here and piping it 60 miles to the nation’s most bountiful oil field, the Permian Basin, […]

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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.”