RECONCILING FOOD-ENERGY-WATER SECURITY IN NORTHERN GREAT PLAIN

The continued export of food-energy-water resources from rural areas of the northern Great Plains is dependent on sustainable management. The United States’ Great Plains provide the world with food staples such as wheat, corn, and soybeans in addition to substantial energy resources in the form of unconventional and conventional oil and gas, coal, uranium, and biofuels while often consuming limited water resources. These areas are the foundation of global supply chains. Imbalanced systems cause harm to the environment, changing once renewable and recyclable resources such as water into waste and threatening the security and availability of critical resources. As resource constraints and anthropogenic changes grow, thresholds or ‘tipping points’ will be encountered after which the ability to recover will be lost. In order to achieve sustainability, critical vulnerabilities need to be addressed while maintaining existing strengths and expanding opportunities. Key food-energy-water vulnerabilities identified during the 2015 National Science Foundation food-energy-water nexus workshop for the northern Great Plains include: landscape segmentation, water availability and usability, habitat destabilization, soil health, rural population declines, and cost and distribution of resources and goods.