Stress-testing for water-energy systems by coupling agent-based models

We propose the incorporation of the human factor to the long-term management policy of water-energy systems, since the social and the technical system are inextricably linked. To assess the management of such systems, we attempt to stress-test them under different disturbances, which are driven by both expected and highly unpredictable changes e.g., socioeconomic and hydrometeorological fluctuations, and black-swan events, respectively. By coupling the two major research fields, namely the water-energy nexus and the social behavior, in an uncertainty-aware framework, we introduce the concept of stochastic socio-hydrological systems. In this context, the response and adaptation of society plays the role of music, while the plethora of disturbances the role of the conductor.