ISSUE 6
OCT-DEC 2004

Editorial

The current issue of the WaterStrategyMan Newsletter presents the framework of the work undertaken in the Project Case Study regions under Task 8.3 of the Project, “Generation of coherent water management scenarios”. The aim of the task was to “build water management scenarios to evaluate alternative allocation options of water resources in the Case Studies”. The scenarios should be based on “specific supply interventions or demand side actions”, aiming to assess “their effect on the current and future matching of water demand”. This assessment is based on a “comparison with the reference case” using “user-defined criteria” set by “the water users, regulators and decision makers”.

The aim of the work undertaken in Task 8.3 was to:

Determine what options can potentially be used in the Case Study region through the literature, stakeholder consultations and/or own experience,
Apply the selected options separately on the region, and determine a range of potential application for each option, and
Evaluate each of the option applications (with respect to the pre-defined criteria).

The outcomes of the scenario analysis are currently used for the formulation of appropriate Water Management Strategies for the Case Study Regions in the next stage of the Project (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The WSM final stage outputs

Task 8.3 was undertaken separately by all the Case Study Partners of the Project under the coordination of the NTUA. Each Case Study Partner undertook the analysis of their respective Case Study Regions.

The current issue presents the methodology of Scenario development, as well as an illustration of this methodology through the findings in the Case Study of Paros Island, Greece. The following issue (January – March 2005) will be dedicated to presenting the developed Integrated Water Management Strategies.

The WaterStrategyMan Project (Developing Strategies for Regulating and Managing Water Resources and Demand in Water Deficient Regions / WSM), is supported by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme, under the Key Action "Sustainable Management and Quality of Water".

Introduction to Coherent Water Management Scenarios:
Regional Context and Formulation of Responses

The major goal of the WSM Project is the development of appropriate alternative integrated water resources management strategies for each of the paradigms identified in the 1st Phase of the Project. These will take into account the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management:

Economic efficiency,
Environmental sustainability, and
Social equity.

In Water Resources Management, the word “Paradigm” describes a school of thought on prioritizing Policy Options for the Management of Water Resources. Each paradigm refers to the:

Geographical entities and their grouping regarding physical and human criteria,
Driving forces like population or economic activity trends,
Physical parameters of the available water resources (state, uses, effects),
Planning and measures regarding the available resources.

The formulation of a Paradigm is a difficult and complicated procedure, as it reflects the conflicts between the established scientific and technological approach and the political and social opinions and demands. In order to define the range of and collect concepts that describe structural and human (administration, financial management, participatory procedures) parameters of a water system, one must understand the technical, social, financial, cultural and environmental issues of the Paradigm.

The understanding of the existing policy options and actions that have been followed in order to manage water resources, and their theoretical background, lead to identification of some basic and distinct Paradigms of Water Resources Management for each region. Therefore, the Dominant Paradigm for each region is the existing, traditional way of “how things have always been done”, combined with the conditions that have led to that approach.

The DPSIR approach, which is often used for the assessment of water management systems using indicators describing the existing Drivers, Pressures, State, Impacts and Responses, lends itself to a new interpretation in the description of Paradigm formulation (Figure 2). The drivers and pressures and their impact of water stress on the system are defined in terms of a Typology (Table 1), whereas the Paradigm corresponds to the dominant responses used to mitigate water stress.

Figure 2. Paradigm development in the DPSIR context

The process of eco-adaptation means that the regional Paradigms are not static, as they both influence and are influenced by the regional characteristics in a continuous cycle. The responses employed to modify the water system are subject to the judgment of the local society; the most successful of these will be used again, and combined with any “new” methods that have been shown to be effective under similar circumstances.

This new combination of responses constitutes an “Emerging Paradigm” that may in turn become dominant after it has been proven effective.

The integrated water resources management strategies under development fall under the scope of determining the Emerging Paradigm for the six regions of Case Study Analysis, described below.

Case Studies Overview

Paros Island in the Cyclades complex, Greece. The main water stress issue is the peak in demand during the summer months, due to the high tourist influx onto the island. The existing infrastructure capacity is stretched during that period and is often insufficient to cover demand at peak times, leading to temporary shortages that in return are damaging to tourism.

Typology: Predominantly tourist (Type II), insular.
Dominant Paradigm: Since the water demand started to grow significantly in the 1980s, the residents of Paros have attempted to cover the water deficit through the construction of private and public drills, interception walls and a small (1,450 m³/day) desalination plant. However these have not been the subject of a systematic effort, and as such the policies followed have led to a number of problems in terms of hindering economic development and exerting pressure to the environment. The dominant Paradigm on the island shows a strong tendency towards small-scale structural supply enhancement solutions.

The Limassol area, Cyprus. The effects of the competition for water resources between tourism and agriculture, the two major sources of income of the island, are being analysed, and the potential for a compromising water management solution that will be beneficial to both sectors needs to be determined. The region is one of the main tourist destinations in Cyprus, while at the same time its agricultural production accounts for more than 50% of the fruit trees, 50% of the vegetable and 60% of the table grapes production of the country.

Typology: Predominantly tourist (Type II), regional.
Dominant Paradigm: The current strategy used for ensuring adequate water supply for all uses, responding to the current conditions of water deficit, is based on a combination of a number of policy options, which fall short however in achieving the goal of meeting demand. The Dominant Paradigm in the region is the combination of large-scale infrastructure, smaller structural interventions and reuse for supply enhancement.

Belice Basin, Italy. The major source of water stress is the peak in demand during the summer, due to irrigation demands in the region, and new interventions are needed in order to satisfy the local irrigation demands.

Typology: Predominantly agricultural (Type III).
Dominant Paradigm: The formation of the Arancio Lake on the Carboj River in 1952 served irrigation purposes for the nearby territories, and the increased water availability contributed to a change in agricultural practices from crops requiring little irrigation to more irrigation dependent ones. The subsequent creation of the Garcia dam on the Belice Sinistro River provided further supply for irrigation and domestic demand. The Dominant Paradigm in the region is focused on the construction of large-scale supply enhancement infrastructure.

Tel-Aviv region, Israel. There are conflicts arising between the provision of water for urban water supply and for agriculture irrigation in a country where water is a very scarce and valuable resource. The Tel Aviv region is the largest in Israel with two million people, 30% of the total population, and 5% of the total cultivated land in the country. The water economy in Tel-Aviv is characterized by relatively high domestic and industrial consumption, and relatively low agricultural consumption.

Typology: Tel-Aviv - Predominantly urban (Type I).
Dominant Paradigm: The water used for the region comes from desalinated sea water, groundwater abstractions and water reuse. About two thirds of it is supplied to Tel-Aviv via the national water system operator, and the remainder is provided by private producers from the coastal aquifer. The Dominant Paradigm in the region relies heavily on large-scale water production technologies.

The Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. The year-round high water demand in the island is caused by a tourist influx much larger than the local population, demanding large infrastructure that nevertheless needs to be paid for by the locals. In addition, the combined effect of increased tourist activity and maintenance of high water-demanding crops in the last decades is highly alarming, and the overexploitation of the groundwater resources is obvious.

Typology: Predominantly tourist (Type II), insular.
Dominant Paradigm: The water shortages in Tenerife have traditionally been addressed through the increasing drilling of underground water galleries for abstraction. The dominant paradigm for the island relies mostly on supply enhancement through medium to large-scale infrastructure development.

Ribeiras do Algarve, Portugal. Despite the relative abundance of water resources, salinity of the underground aquifers is a rapidly intensifying problem due to the over-abstraction of water for use in golf courses and other tourism-related uses. In the last decades the basin has suffered deep changes in its demography mostly due to the development of tourist activities. The pressure on water resources created by seasonal population is very strong, leading to water shortage problems during the summer months, and is compacted by the significant agricultural demand. The increasing abstraction has led to salinisation of the underground aquifers in the area, making finding an alternative means of supply both necessary and urgent.

Typology: Predominantly tourist (Type II), regional.
Dominant Paradigm: The water demand of the region has traditionally been covered with abstracted groundwater; this however has changed in recent years, and water demand is now mostly covered through surface water from reservoirs. The current dominant paradigm in Ribeiras do Algarve involves mainly the use of large-scale supply enhancement infrastructure.

Table 1. Summary presentation of identified types

Typology

Description of underlying conditions

Regions

I (Predominantly Urban)

Regions including metropolitan/large urban centres.

Main economic activities largely belong in the tertiary sector, although secondary sector activities are also present.

Water deficiency is either:

permanent, due to insufficiency of resources for the existing population, or

seasonal due to meteorological/ hydrological fluctuations.

Some price elasticity in water supply.

Tel-Aviv

II (Predominantly Tourist {insular / regional})

Regions or islands dependent on tourism, with small to medium sized urban centres and large seasonal population fluctuation.

Dependence on agriculture as well but the main source of income is tourist activities.

Seasonal water deficiency as a result of the population fluctuations due to the tourist industry’s peak in the summer months.

Price elasticity is variable, depending on the local conditions.

Paros, Tenerife (insular)

/

Limassol, Algarve (regional)

III (Predominantly Agricultural)

Regions dependent on agriculture, with small to medium sized urban centres and limited population fluctuation.

Dependence on secondary and tertiary sector activities is often limited compared to agriculture, which is the main source of income.

Usually seasonal water deficiency as a result of increased crop requirements of water in the summer time.

Price elasticity is variable, depending on the local conditions.

Belice Basin

Editorial

Introduction to Coherent Water Management Scenarios: Regional Context and Formulation of Responses

Case Studies Overview

Introduction to Coherent Water Management Scenarios:
Regional Context and Formulation of Responses