Implementing Management Practices for Enhancing Water-Food Nexus Under Climate Change

The current investigation aims to develop a management strategy to enhance the relationship between water and food in the Euphrates River Basin, Iraq. The research methodology utilized the LARS-WG model to generate weather data for the future period (2020-2050) for the CanESM2 model. The weather data was subsequently employed in the CROPWAT model to estimate crop water requirements. Finally, the Water Evaluating and Planning (WEAP) model analyzed the great -inhabitant growth rate scenario (5%), climate change scenarios (i.e., RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5), and management scenarios. The WEAP model was initially calibrated and validated utilizing several statistical metrics, viz., the root mean square (RMS), Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient efficiency (NSE), and the coefficient of determination (R2). Results revealed a superior performance of the WEAP model in terms of the statistical metrics utilized. The findings illustrate that the projected water demand under RCP 2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios and the inhabitants growth scenario increased by 49%, 54%, and 56%, respectively, in the year 2050 compared to the reference scenario. In addition, the findings indicate that the water demand would decrease by 59% under the considered management scenario. Accordingly, the investigation recommends implementing water management practices, especially adaptation measures for climate change.