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The study objective was to develop and use the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Phosphate (WEF-P) Tool to evaluate the impact of Morocco's phosphate industry on water, energy, and food sectors of Khouribga, which is the representative phosphate mining region of Morocco. The developed WEF-P Tool enabled a trade-off analysis based on integrating supply-chain processes, transportation, and water–energy footprints of the region. Field data from the mining to transportation processes were collected and applied to possible supply-chain scenarios in accordance with the type of product (phosphate rock and slurry). The potential impacts of the scenarios were considered in terms of the water supply in the agricultural areas. The analysis of the positive impacts of dynamic management suggests that seasonal management of phosphate production (less during the irrigated season, more during wetter or rainier seasons) is more effective. Additionally, while the transport of raw phosphate slurry through a pipeline increased the total water required to 34.6×106 m 3 , which is an increase of 76 % over the "business as usual" (BAU) scenario, it also resulted in an energy savings of nearly 80 % over BAU: slurry transport requires only 40.5×106 L of fossil fuel instead of the 204×106 L required to transport rocks. During the dry or "water-scarce" irrigation season (May to July), total groundwater use decreased from 5.8×106 to 5.2×106 m 3. Dynamic management of the phosphate industry can also save 143 MWh (megawatt-hour) of electricity annually and can bring a reduction of 117 t of CO2 emissions. Making water available at the correct season and location requires analysis of complex scientific, technical, socioeconomic, regulatory, and political issues. The WEF-P Tool can assist by assessing user-created scenarios; thus, it is an effective management-decision aid for ensuring more sustainable use of limited resources and increased reliability of water resources for both agricultural and industrial use. This study on the applications of WEF Nexus to the phosphate industry offers a roadmap for other industrial application for which trade-offs between the primary resources must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to analyze various sustainability strategies for phosphate and phosphorous fertilizer production systems from the perspective of their holistic impacts on water, energy, and CO 2 emissions. The study was conducted using the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Tool 2.0, adapted to include the phosphate industry (WEF-P tool). It assesses the scenarios based on priorities identified by the Moroccan phosphate industry, such as the environmental impact of transporting phosphate rock by train and phosphate slurry by pipeline and increased desalinated water use. Results show that each scenario's sustainability can be assessed in terms of phosphate production, processes, resource (water and energy) availability, and CO 2 emissions in mining and manufacturing areas. The analytical methodology of the tool is based on an integrated supply chain and life cycle assessment, which includes the production flows linking mining phosphate and manufacturing phosphorous fertilizers and their water and energy supply systems. Field surveys were used to identify the supply chain and estimate the relationships between production and resource consumption in each process. The tool is a decision-support platform that produces sustainability indices for multiple scenarios of resource allocation (water and energy) and CO 2 emissions, allowing stakeholders to compare potential outcomes and formulate decisions based on their understanding of the actual trade-offs involved., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding this publication., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)