The water-energy nexus: A story of mutual dependence

Take electricity.  Roughly 60 percent of electricity produced in Canada comes from hydropower – energy harnessed from the movement of water down rivers.  While water isn’t removed from the river, hydropower operations can still seriously impact freshwater ecosystems.  The bulk of our remaining electricity comes from thermal power, which includes coal burning power plants and nuclear power generation – both of which use huge volumes of water in their operations.  Did you know that a 60-watt light bulb turned on 12 hours every day for a year can consume upwards of 20 thousand liters of water at the power plant?  Simply put, energy is a thirsty commodity.

(c) Frank PARHIZGAR / WWF-Canada
Aerial view showing feeder canals emerging from underground pipes that have diverted Niagara River water around Niagara Falls to power generating stations in Ontario, Canada. Red rock indicates construction for a new water-delivery tunnel.
But this is only one side of the story.  The relationship between water and energy – often referred to as the water-energy nexus – is one of mutual dependence. Just as huge amounts of water are used to produce energy, huge amounts of energy are required to pump, distribute, treat and heat the water we use in our homes. For instance, in Ontario, 40 percent of natural gas and 12 percent of electricity is consumed in water services.
As the demand and competition for water and energy continues to grow in Canada and around the world, increasingly we’re seeing signs of stress in the relationship between these two vitally important, and mutually dependent resources. And as the impacts of climate change increasingly bear down on the planet, the need to address the water-energy nexus becomes even more pressing, especially when you add to that equation the pressures of a growing population and increased consumption per capita.
While the world comes to terms with this new paradigm, Canada is well positioned, with its vastness of natural resources and economic wellbeing, to avoid the pitfalls of poorly integrated water and energy policies, and to embrace a clean energy future – one which, in addition to climate change, is also defined in relation to the health of our lakes and rivers.
As consumers of water and energy we’re part of a broader dialogue that informs Canada’s infrastructure development. By reducing the amount of water and energy we use in our homes, we can effectively reduce the size and impact of our individual water footprint, helping to reduce the cumulative impact on watersheds from which our water and energy is sourced, and possibly even slow down the rush to develop new and costly energy projects and water works – not to mention, you might save some money along the way.