Abstract This paper introduces a novel triple bottom line sustainability assessment to evaluate the water-energy-food nexus of desalination for agriculture. Falling technology costs and rising water scarcity worldwide make desalination an increasingly attractive proposition, and agriculture is one of the main sectors grappling with its potential impacts. To explore this issue, we combine a wide range of primary and secondary environmental, economic, and social data with a triple bottom line / WEF nexus analysis, to demonstrate both the holistic sustainability impacts of desalination for agriculture, and the multi-sectoral policy environment within which desalination is adopted. We apply this approach to 54 privately-owned desalination plants that treat brackish groundwater for agricultural use in the San Quintin Valley of Baja California, Mexico. We find that subsidized energy for local agribusinesses plays an important role in making desalination economically viable in the region. This in turn fuels a large agricultural export industry that represents a significant virtual water transfer to the US market. Rapid population growth in the area driven by agricultural labor needs exacerbates the issues of social equity and sustainability that these subsidies and transfers raise. We conclude with a discussion of how to manage these identified trade-offs across the water-energy-food nexus.

中文翻译：

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水-能源-食物关系的权衡：墨西哥圣昆廷谷农业海水淡化的三重底线可持续性评估

摘要 本文介绍了一种新颖的三重底线可持续性评估，以评估农业海水淡化的水-能源-食物关系。全球技术成本下降和水资源短缺加剧使海水淡化成为越来越有吸引力的提议，而农业是应对其潜在影响的主要部门之一。为了探讨这个问题，我们将广泛的初级和次级环境、经济和社会数据与三重底线/世界经济论坛关系分析相结合，以展示海水淡化对农业的整体可持续性影响和多部门政策环境其中采用海水淡化。我们将这种方法应用于 54 家私营海水淡化厂，这些海水淡化厂处理墨西哥下加利福尼亚州圣昆廷谷的农业用微咸水地下水。我们发现，当地农业综合企业的能源补贴在使该地区海水淡化具有经济可行性方面发挥着重要作用。这反过来又推动了一个大型农业出口产业，该产业代表了向美国市场的重要虚拟水转移。该地区受农业劳动力需求驱动的人口快速增长加剧了这些补贴和转移所引发的社会公平和可持续性问题。我们最后讨论了如何在水-能源-食品关系中管理这些已确定的权衡。该地区受农业劳动力需求驱动的人口快速增长加剧了这些补贴和转移所引发的社会公平和可持续性问题。我们最后讨论了如何在水-能源-食品关系中管理这些已确定的权衡。该地区受农业劳动力需求驱动的人口快速增长加剧了这些补贴和转移所引发的社会公平和可持续性问题。我们最后讨论了如何在水-能源-食品关系中管理这些已确定的权衡。