Application of the Water–Energy–Food Nexus Approach to the Climate-Resilient Water Safety Plan of Leh Town, India

Climate-resilient water safety plans (CR-WSPs) have been developed as a risk-based approach to ensure a safe drinking-water supply while addressing the increasing stress on water resources resulting from climate change. Current examples of the application of CR-WSPs show a strong sectoral approach that fails to explore the potential synergies between other climate-sensitive sectors related to water, such as food and energy. This can increase the vulnerability or decrease the overall resilience of urban systems when planning climate change adaptation measures. In this work, the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus approach was applied in the formulation of a CR-WSP in Leh Town, India, a city with rapid development and population growth located in the Himalayas—one of the most sensitive ecosystems to climate change. The WEF Nexus approach was applied in the system description using a critical infrastructure approach and in the formulation of scenarios for risk management which exploited intersectoral synergies through water reclamation with resource recovery using constructed wetlands. The improvements in WEF security and risk reduction were demonstrated through indicators and risk mapping with geographical information systems (GISs). The methods for integrating the WEF Nexus approach in CR-WSPs provided through this work can serve as a base for a trans-sectoral, resilient approach within risk-based approaches for water security