Water, Energy, and Technology

The water–energy nexus describes the reality that the provision of water always requires energy, while the production of most forms of energy requires significant amounts of water, particularly electricity production in thermoelectric power plants. As a result, electricity production and water supply are always intimately related, and changes in one of these arenas directly affect the other. However, law and policy rarely acknowledge this technology-mediated interrelationship, even though climate change will impose increasing stresses on both sides of the equation. While technology can help to mitigate these stresses, water law and energy policy could both do more to consider the trade-offs among water supply, energy production, and environmental protection.