Explaining the Dynamics of Transition to an Integrated WEF System: Two Cases of Irrigated Agriculture in Oregon, USA

In recent years, the integrated Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach has gained traction as a more effective way to manage these interdependent and essential resources. A growing number of traditional food and water irrigation systems in Oregon, USA are transitioning to modernized, holistic, and sustainable Hydro-Irrigation-Restoration Systems that embrace the WEF Nexus approach (Weber 2017). The question is- what factors explain the successful transition? Two cases of irrigation modernization in Hood River, Oregon demonstrate that system transitions follow a pattern of socio-technical change wherein four structural factors are key- economic incentives, changing values expressed in regulations, technological innovation, and external shocks (e.g., major disasters). Yet, while the structural variables associated with the social-technical change approach are necessary for explaining the transitions to new WEF systems in Hood River, they are not sufficient. The case studies display the crucial importance of individual agency, or the actor dynamics capable of enabling or hindering system transformations (see Van Driel and Schot 2005, 54). Chief among these “agency” factors are (1) facilitative, visionary, trust-worthy leadership, (2) the cultivation of trust and collaborative problem-solving capacity, (3) the willingness to embrace risk and trade short-term costs for the potential of long term gains (e.g., low discount rates), and (4) the adoption of a new set of ideas, or shared norms, governing decision-making which embraced the idea that an integrated, modernized system could simultaneously promote economic, environmental, and energy sustainability.