The Project Summary

Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) sectors form a complex and dynamically linked system. It is only possible to reduce the current pressures on these four sectors, ensure their security and prevent future difficulties, only by evaluating these sectors as part of the same system. The bond approach has emerged in order to systematically analyze the interaction between environmental and human activities and to ensure the holistic management and use of natural resources in various sectors and scales. To summarize the interaction between sources in general terms; while food and energy production requires water, it affects the quantity and quality of water; food systems and clean water supply require energy; Misuse of water and energy affects food supply, ecological balance and land use. There are many approaches to reducing the pressure on the WEFE. Circular Economy, one of the prominent approaches in recent years, is an approach that aims to reduce the environmental impacts of production and resource use and increase economic benefits. Circular economy approaches have started to take place in the environmental policies of countries, especially in the European Union Countries. Research in the field of circular system approaches has gained momentum and has become a part of the solution proposals developed for the sustainable management of natural resources on a sectoral, regional and country basis.

However, the issue of cyclical management of the relations of resources/products with each other in complex and intertwined structures such as the WEFE Nexus has not yet been sufficiently investigated and is discussed at the conceptual level in the literature. Although the positive effects of cyclical systems on the environment are evaluated through indicators in the literature, these indicators reflect local ecosystem conditions in a limited and indirect way. Therefore, there is a significant gap in the literature in terms of the method of using the watershed characteristics, where water is used and discharged, in performance evaluations of circular economy alternatives, while creating water management options within the scope of WEFE Nexus assessment.

The aim of the proposed project is to establish a methodological framework that will allow the performance of circular economy models to be evaluated within the scope of the WEFE Nexus assessment to ensure Sustainable Water Management on a watershed basis. In order to establish the method, the Porsuk Basin and the sectors (Agriculture, Industry, City) that have an impact on water resources within the boundaries of the basin will be evaluated. Porsuk Basin is under the influence of intense urbanization, agriculture and industry. The project proposal, which is planned to last for 30 months in total, is an interdisciplinary study in terms of its intended goals and covers the topics under the title of Clean and Circular Economy, one of the Priority R&D and Innovation Issues within the scope of Compliance with the Green Agreement. The processes to be followed in the project are grouped under the following three main groups:

1. System Analysis: Field studies, data/information obtained from institutions, outputs obtained within the scope of Tübitak project No. 116Y166, and i) agriculture, ii) industry and iii) city components will be evaluated in terms of water-energy-food link. In addition, the characteristics of the basin, water potential and water pollution will be evaluated within the scope of ecosystem integrity.
2. Evaluation of Circular Economy Principles and WEFE Nexus: Application possibilities of water-focused circular economy principles including Agriculture, Industry, City activities affecting the WEFE Nexus in the Porsuk Basin, field studies, surveys and literature information will be compiled, and circular economy alternatives will be developed and evaluations will be made for the best alternative. Developed alternatives will be evaluated in terms of their environmental and economic performances, by using environmental indicators, with Multiple Criteria Decision Making methods. Water-focused circular economy scenarios will be evaluated in an integrated manner with the hydrological WEAP model created for the Porsuk Basin.
3. Integration of Circular Economy Models into Water Management : By comparing the indicator-based performance evaluation of water-focused circular economy alternatives with the evaluation made using the hydrological WEAP model. i) selected indicators and ii) It will be evaluated to what extent the method followed represents the water-oriented improvements to be observed in the basin. In this way, a method will be proposed for decision makers to evaluate the effects of different circular economy options, which have an impact on the SEDI, on the ecosystem.

In the literature, evaluations about the ecosystem are very new and limited in studies examining the WEFE Nexus, and there is no study in which strategies are developed by following a holistic approach to ensure Water-Energy and Food safety by creating circular economy models. Therefore, the original value and widespread impact of the method to be developed in the proposed project will be high.

Method

In the proposed project, it is aimed to develop a method with high original value that will be adapted to the Porsuk Basin by using the outputs of the Evaluation of the Water-Energy-Food Relationship in Sakarya Basin Project, numbered 116Y166, which was carried out between 2017-2020. Within the scope of the TÜBİTAK project numbered 116Y166 carried out in the Department of Environmental Engineering at METU between 2017-2020, the Water, Energy and Food Link in the Sakarya River Basin was investigated with a focus on water, and it was evaluated to what extent water consumption could be reduced with holistic approaches. The water budget for the Sakarya Basin was determined by the WEAP model, and the effects of sustainable practices on the water budget in agriculture, energy, industry and drinking water use were investigated. At the same time, LEAP and WEAP models were run with a holistic approach and different energy production approaches in the basin were evaluated in terms of cost and water use. Finally, besides the effect of different agricultural practices on the water budget, a socio-economic evaluation has also been made. In the project numbered 116Y166, the impact of the Energy and Food sector on the ecosystem was evaluated over the minimum flow that should be provided in the river areas, and the economic analyzes were evaluated to reflect only the agricultural product changes.

The proposed Project consists of 5 Work Packages and the method to be followed is summarized in Figure 1 below. The 1st Work Package is a system analysis that includes evaluations of the Agriculture, City and Industry sectors within the borders of the basin, which exert pressure on the environmental and WEFE Nexus at both the Porsuk Basin scale. In the 2nd Work Package, the sectors for which system analysis was made will be examined in more detail as a result of literature, field and survey studies, and material flow analyzes (MAA) analyzes for water will be made in the sub-sectoral systems created in the Porsuk basin. 2. Circular model scenarios for each sub-system using the MAAs created in the Work Package It will be created within the scope of the 3rd Work Package and these scenarios will be evaluated with their environmental and economic performances and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Method. It will be evaluated in the 4th Work Package. The water-focused circular economy models developed in the 3rd Work Package will also be introduced as inputs to the WEAP model for the Poruk basin, and the impact of these models on environmental flows and the water potential of the basin. It will be evaluated within the scope of the 4th Work Package. 5. Work Package 3 and 4. By comparing the results obtained in the Work Packages, the framework of the method will be determined to evaluate the pressures affecting the WEFE Nexus with the water-oriented circular economy models.

Project team