Water and Food

Beginning in Summer 2009, WSP will explore the relationship between water, food and sustainable communities, with a focus on water soft path and conservation opportunities for agricultural water use. The WSP Water and Food theme will help embed water conservation in planning for the future of the agricultural sector. It will inform the development of innovative institutional arrangements and decision-support tools that establish integrated and ecosystem-based management at the watershed level.

Research in this theme will address the following key questions:

• How will water availability and demand in the agricultural sector evolve over the next several decades?
• How will this affect food production and the availability of water for other ecosystem purposes?
• What small-scale and local-level water conservation and agricultural management strategies and technologies exist that could be used to enhance sustainable agricultural water use at a wider scale?
• How can water stewardship policies link sustainable agriculture, smart urban growth and environmental demands to urban water conservation?
• What are the opportunities and barriers to using regional watershed organizational and decision-making models for agriculture and long-term water resource sustainability?