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Water Conservation, Recycling and Reuse: Issues and Challenges pp 259–276Cite as

Application of the Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) Approach in Water Resource Management Research: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Future Research Directions

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Abstract

Population growth, climate change, and conflicting demand by industry and agriculture are increasingly straining our planet’s water resources. In this light, there is a need to advance holistic approaches and objective tools which allow policymakers to better evaluate system-level properties and trade-offs of water resources. This chapter contributes to the expanding literature in this area by highlighting water resource management strategies based on the ecological network analysis (ENA) approach. This chapter overviews the theoretical underpinnings of the ENA approach and its application, limitations, and weaknesses for water resource management research. Furthermore, through the case study of the Heihe River Basin, this chapter demonstrates how to examine system-level properties and their trade-offs relevant to the resilience of water services. The ENA approach considers holistic trade-offs that may be used to evaluate alternative water recycling and saving scenarios. This approach can complement multiple criteria decision-making framework and scenario planning approaches and can be beneficial in developing new applicable water resource management strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Systems Analysis Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

    Ali Kharrazi

  2. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Ali Kharrazi

  3. Department of Socio-Cultural Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Tomohiro Akiyama

Authors
  1. Ali Kharrazi
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  2. Tomohiro Akiyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Kharrazi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rajeev Pratap Singh

  2. Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA

    Alan S. Kolok

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

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Kharrazi, A., Akiyama, T. (2019). Application of the Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) Approach in Water Resource Management Research: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Future Research Directions. In: Singh, R., Kolok, A., Bartelt-Hunt, S. (eds) Water Conservation, Recycling and Reuse: Issues and Challenges. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3179-4_14

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