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The aim of the study is to apply the Nexus approach for conducting trade-off analysis between industrial and agricultural area, thus we developed Water-Energy-Food Nexus-Phosphate (WEF-P) Tool based on integrating the supply chain processes, transportation, and water-energy footprints. This study evaluated the impact of phosphate industry on regional water, energy, and food in Khouribga, the representative phosphate mining area of Morocco using the developed WEF-P Tool. To address the potential impacts on the water supply in agricultural areas, the field data of processes (from mining to transportation) were collected and applied to possible supply chain scenarios according to type of product (phosphate rock, slurry). Analysis of positive impacts of dynamic management suggest seasonal management of phosphate production to allow less phosphate production during the irrigation season (increasing available water for agriculture) and greater phosphate production during wetter seasons (when water demand for agricultural production is less). Additionally, the transport of raw phosphate as slurry through a pipeline increases the total water required to 34.6 million m³. This is a 76 % increase over the "business as usual scenario" (BAU)). The shift to slurry also produces an energy savings of nearly 80 % over BAU, which requires 204.0 million litre of fossil fuel, as compared to only 40.5 million litre needed for slurry transport. During May to July, the dry or "water scarce" season when irrigation is needed, total ground water use decreased from 5.8 to 5.2 million m³. Dynamic management of the phosphate industry can also save 143 MWh of electricity annually, accompanied with a reduction of 117 tons of CO2 emissions. In a changing climate, making water available at the right time and place requires analysis of complex scientific, technical, socio-economical, regulatory, and political issues. The WEF-P Tool can be used to assess user- created scenarios, offering a management-decision aid to effectively ensure more sustainable management of limited resources and increased reliability of water resources for both agricultural and industrial use. This study on the application of WEF Nexus to the Phosphate industry can be a roadmap for other industrial application where trade-offs between the primary resources exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's largest hydrocarbon disturbance occurred in the deserts and offshore waters of Kuwait during the Second Gulf War in 1990–1991. In this research, remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were utilized to explore how native desert vegetation has recovered from hydrocarbon contamination after the Second Gulf War. By using RS techniques, change detection analysis was conducted to understand the changes about the coverage and extent of the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contamination and vegetation recovery. These changes were traced from 1991 until the hydrocarbon was no longer visible on the ground surface in 1998. GIS spatial analysis was conducted to determine the major ecosystem factors that influenced the vegetation recovery along with the removal of hydrocarbon disturbance. According to the results, autogenic recovery occurred at both sites within a few years and that desert native vegetation was found to have the ability to adapt and recover from hydrocarbon pollution. Native vegetation recovered across 31% of the TPH‐contaminated areas at Umm Gudair and 34% at Wadi Al Batin. The changes in TPH contamination were significantly correlated with the soil type, vegetation type, geological substrates, geomorphological features, and annual precipitation. The vegetation recovery of dominant desert communities in the study area was influenced by soil type, geomorphological feature, and TPH‐contaminated areas. Interestingly, the results showed that these desert communities can recover in areas contaminated by TPH at a higher rate than noncontaminated sites in the study area. Such a study can provide important inputs to the restoration and revegetation programs in arid landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]