THE NEED FOR QUALITY The first thing that we need to consider, in any organization, is that quality is the most important thing. The quality of your work defines you.  Whoever you are,  Whatever you do,  I can find the same products and services cheaper somewhere else. But your quality is your signature. Developing and delivering high quality products and services means that you are doing things correctly from the beginning. As a consequence, you are reducing the need for additional services, from verification to warranty.

Total quality management.

Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach

Water and energy are each recognized as indispensable inputs to modern economies. And, in recent years, driven by the three imperatives of security of supply, sustainability, and economic efficiency, the energy and water sectors have undergone rapid reform. However, it is when water and energy rely on each other that the most complex challenges are posed for policymakers. Despite the links and the urgency in both sectors for security of supply, in existing policy frameworks, energy and water policies are developed largely in isolation from one another—a degree of policy fragmentation that is seeing erroneous developments in both sectors. Examples of the trade-offs between energy and water security include: the proliferation of desalination plants and interbasin transfers to deal with water scarcity; extensive groundwater pumping for water supplies; first- generation biofuels; the proliferation of hydropower plants; decentralized water supply solutions such as rainwater tanks; and even some forms of modern irrigation techniques. Drawing on case studies from Australia, Europe, and the United States, this Special Issue attempts to develop a comprehensive understanding of the links between energy and water, to identify where better-integrated policy and management strategies and solutions are needed or available, and to understand where barriers exist to achieve that integration. In this paper we draw out some of the themes emerging from the Special Issue, and, particularly, where insights might be valuable for policymakers, practitioners, and scientists across the many relevant domains.

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The energy-water nexus: managing the links between energy and water for a sustainable future.

Groundwater plays a major, if often unrecognized, role in both hydrologic and human systems. The majority of the world's drinking water probably comes from groundwater, and in the last half century, there has been an amazing, if largely ignored, boom in agricultural groundwater use that has provided improved livelihoods and food security to billions of farmers and consumers. However, increased use of groundwater has also created problems, and there are fears—sometimes challenged—that the boom may soon turn to bust. This article reviews the recent literature on the geographic and temporal dimensions of groundwater use and the range of technological and institutional approaches that have been applied in attempts at its management. It then examines the key reasons the resource has proven so difficult to manage and concludes that, in many cases, the most promising solutions may lie outside the groundwater sector and within a broader approach to resource systems.

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Global Groundwater? Issues and Solutions

South Asian countries face mounting challenges in meeting the growing demand for food, water, and energy for a rapidly growing population. Countries have provided policy support to increase cereal production, including providing incentives by subsidizing water and energy and guaranteeing rice and wheat prices. While such incentives have increased cereal production, they have also increased the demand for water and energy, led to degradation of the resource base, and contributed to an increase in water-related disease. Despite the inherent interconnections between food, water, and energy production, agencies often work in a fragmented and isolated way. Poor sectoral coordination and institutional fragmentation have triggered an unsustainable use of resources and threatened the long-term sustainability of food, water, and energy security in the region, and also posed challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Free water and subsidized electricity have not only encouraged overexploitation of resources, they have also led to under-investment in water and energy-saving technologies and approaches and hindered crop diversification and broad-based agricultural growth in line with the comparative advantages. Greater policy coherence among the three sectors is critical for decoupling increased food production from water and energy intensity and moving to a sustainable and efficient use of resources. The nexus approach can enhance understanding of the interconnectedness of the sectors and strengthen coordination among them. But it requires a major shift in the decision-making process towards taking a holistic view and developing institutional mechanisms to coordinate the actions of diverse actors and strengthen complementarities and synergies among the three sectors. A framework is suggested for cross-sectoral coordination and managing the nexus challenges.

https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/144864.pdf

Managing the food, water, and energy nexus for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in South Asia

In Giordano, Mark; Villholth (Eds.). The agricultural groundwater revolution: opportunities and threats to development. Wallingford, UK: CABIComprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture Series 3

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Abhishek Sharma

Papers

Energy-irrigation nexus in South Asia: Improving groundwater conservation and power sector viability

Energy-irrigation nexus in South Asia: improving groundwater conservation and power sector viability