Water infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, plays essential roles in the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus by providing services such as hydropower and water storage. 

Water infrastructure also creates substantial ecological and social externalities, including altered sediment transport, biodiversity loss, and has adverse effects human communities. Thus, our dependence on water infrastructure creates tradeoffs that propagate across scales and through multiple domains of the WEF nexus.

This session invites contributions that document emerging impacts or develop interdisciplinary approaches to the planning, operation, or removal of water infrastructure. We encourage submissions that bring underrepresented perspectives to water infrastructure planning, including studies on the social, ecological, and geomorphic impacts of water infrastructure. We also welcome submissions on innovative solutions, including strategic infrastructure planning and on reducing dependence on built infrastructure through water and energy demand management.  

This session aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue toward infrastructure that meets human needs while minimizing socio-environmental externalities.

• B - Biogeosciences
• EP - Earth and Planetary Surface Processes
• GC - Global Environmental Change
• SY - Science and Society