20 August 2012: The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has released a report on the role of large-scale water storage in enhancing water, energy and food security. The paper presents a typology of storage functions in the water-energy-food nexus, discusses the risks and trade-offs from water storage schemes and the lessons learned and best practice in water storage development, and concludes with ways to transform current trends into opportunities.

The Report, titled “Large-Scale Water Storage in the Water, Energy and Food Nexus: Perspectives on Benefits, Risks and Best Practice,” identifies the primary roles of large-scale water storage as irrigation, hydropower, water supply, flood control, multipurpose use and tailings storage. The Report finds that large-scale storage supports economic development, and increases water security by buffering against variability in precipitation.

It also concludes that: water storage enhances climate change adaptation and mitigation, in part through hydropower production, but that projects must be designed to be resilient to climate change; environment and social impacts of water storage need to be addressed in the planning and design phases, such as through Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) and stakeholder participation; and expected benefits of storage projects are often overestimated.

The Report identifies three trends expected to increase demand for water, energy and food: growing cities and global growth; rising demand for renewable energy; and competing demands for water that require major efficiency improvements in agricultural water use efficiency. It concludes that using best practices and lessons learned can maximize the benefits of large-scale water storage while reducing the social and environmental risks. [Publication: Large-scale water storage in the water, energy and food nexus: Perspectives on benefits, risks and best practice] [SIWI Press Release]