Water managers and energy utilities alike are paying more and more attention to what is being termed the water-energy nexus. This term refers to the idea that water is required to generate energy and that energy is required to treat and deliver water. With hotter and drier weather projected for the Southwest due to climate change, this nexus between water and energy could make providing both more difficult in several ways. Higher temperatures will increase energy demands for cooling in the residential and commercial sectors. As groundwater supplies decrease, more energy will be required to pump water from greater depths. Warmer intake water (from rivers and lakes) will make it more difficult to cool process water used in power plants. Some power plants, such as the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix, AZ, use reclaimed water for cooling. However, as water resources become scarcer, competition for even reclaimed water supplies may become more and more fierce.
Keyword: water, energy, water-energy nexus, climate change, hydroelectricity, water harvesting