Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

A Texan Tragedy: Ample Oil, No Water

Via The Guardian, an interesting article on how the fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty: Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime […]

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Energy And Water Are Running Out In Texas, But It’s Not Too Late

Via EDF’s Energy Exchange blog, a look at Texas’ efforts to manage the watergy nexus: As we’ve highlighted in previous posts, water and energy regulators often make decisions in silos, despite the inherent connection between these two sectors. Texas is no exception. Two very important and intertwined events are happening in Texas right now. First, […]

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The Watergy Paradox

Via MyWestTexas.com, an article on the water energy paradox, and the possibility that the oil and gas industry will switch en mass to tapping brackish aquifers for hydraulic fracturing within five years: Water and energy are hopelessly entangled — you can’t have one without the other. But figuring out how to get either cleanly and […]

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With Tar Sands Development, Growing Concern Over Water Use

Via Yale’s environment360, a look at the transition of environmental questions about Canada’s massive tar sands development – which have long centered on greenhouse gas emissions – to mounting concerns about the huge volumes of water used by the oil industry and the impact on the vast Mackenzie River Basin: Opposition to the mining of […]

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How Water Scarcity From Climate Change Could Increase Europe’s Power Prices

Via Climate Progress, an interesting article on the impact of water scarcity on European power prices: Many European countries could see a decrease in electricity generating capacity and an increase in electricity prices thanks to climate change. That’s the overall finding from a new studyout of the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, which […]

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Energy And Water: Fundamentally Intertwined, But Policies Don’t Reflect That

Via EDF, a report on the linkages between energy and water: When I tell people that the best way to conserve energy is to conserve water, I am often faced with a confused response. I’m not surprised really. Energy and water policies are rarely discussed in the same forum. For a long time, we’ve overlooked […]

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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.”