Spain: Range of circumstances and region analysis

Abstract

Although Spain's water resources related to population, in global terms, are actually above the Mediterranean, water in Spain can be considered a scarce resource and extremely vulnerable. This is caused by its unequal spatial distribution, with excedentary basins and extremely deficitary basins, and by factors such as population growth and displacement, tourist growth in coastal areas or continuous increase of irrigation in arid and semiarid areas, which are clearly deficitary. Competency and management overlapping regarding resource use and re-use, seriously threaten the policies on water sustainable use that try to start both at the national and Autonomous Region level. The great biodiversity and water environment richness is also threatened due to the big local and regional disarrangement as regards the assignment of water resources.

Among the different hydrographic regions and deficitary basins, the two cases of the Canary Islands and of Doñana and its surroundings have been selected. The Canary Islands show a complete range of risks and conflict situations within a deficitary territory with a spectacular tourist growth. Doñana represents the paradigm of conservation and development, an environment where population pressure and water table exploitation for new crops has to conciliate with the conservation of one of the most important wetlands in the world. The range of circumstances in these two regions is analysed, and presented in table form.

Introduction

Spain is a country characterised by big geographical and climatic contrasts that determine availability and distribution of natural water resources. From the water point of view, this diversity of environments determines the existence of very different hydrologic areas, of high aridity gradients, of islands of humidity in dry contexts, of strong variability of the surface flow, of a hydrogeology with important regional differences and a very high heterogeneousity as regards water distribution, both in the Spanish mainland an d in the Canary and Balearic archipelagos.

We can say concisely that there is a strong difference between Northern and North-western areas with abundant water resources and the dry Southern and Eastern areas. Schematically, three large sectors can be differentiated, with regard to abundance and distribution of water resources:

Northern and North-western sector, including Galicia and Pyrenean-Cantabrian regions, is characterised by a great abundance and relative regularity of water resources, being therefore improbable that this factor would acquire a limitative nature from a socio-economic or environmental point of view.

The Central sector, constituted by the large inner river basins, shows the pluviometric shadow by the surrounding mountain systems, receiving little rainfall, with an rise in aridity in the most continental areas (middle Ebro river basin, low Duero river basin, etc.). Within this sector water availability is very conditioned by the contributions produced in the mountain systems. Among them are of special importance those proceeding from the Cantabrian system (Duero river basin) and Pyrenees (Ebro river basin), which are the main water resource producers in the Iberian area. Within this sector. Water resources from the detritic water tables localised in the middle of the big depression are also important.

The Mediterranean sector is constituted by small river basins and average slopes towards the sea. Pluviometry is generally quit low, due to its localisation in a sector of shadow with regard to the humid North-western winds. To be emphasised the marked irregularity of precipitations with long drought periods and catastrophic episodes of convective rainfalls. Scarcity and irregularity is not compensated by rivers’ contribution, as river basins are quite small in this sector and with a torrent regime, lacking big water-producers orographic centres. Natural scarcity of water increases going southwards, reaching its maximum levels in the coastal areas of Murcia and Almeria. Within this area, subterranean water resources acquire great importance, and are mostly constituted by carbonated water tables.

The permanent population of Spain according to the 1999 census was 39,238,000 inhabitants. The recorded tourist international arrivals for 2000 were 48,5 M.

Map 1. Spain in the Mediterranean

Table 1. Summary of Spain’s physical features

Background	Description
Climate	The main characteristic of Spain’s climate is its diversity, due to its geographical situation: it is in fact localised between two big sea-masses (Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean sea) and two continents (Europe and Africa). The Northern part is characterised by a mild climate, with storms of Atlantic origin that are practically present all the year round, giving rise to a high relative humidity and mild temperatures, temperate in winter and cool in summer. In the Mediterranean coast and part of inner Andalusia (basically the Guadalquivir river basin), Climate is characterised by dry summer and mild winters. The predominant climate of the rest of the country is typically continental, with dry hot summers and cold winters. Winter anticyclones are usual for this area, and this situation gives rise to thermal inversions. Climate is generally dry in the Canary Islands (especially in the eastern islands, as the western ones are influenced by Atlantic air masses charged with humidity) and in the coastal area of Murcia and Almeria, where only scarce precipitations occur. In accordance with the humidity UNESCO’s Global Humidity Index, based on a ratio of annual precipitation and potential evapo-transpiration (P/PET) index, Spain can be divided into de following zones: · Arid areas: Eastern mainland sector, eastern-southern areas of the Canary Islands and Tabernas desert, near Almeria. · Semi-arid areas: Ebro Depression, Almeria, Murcia, southern Jucar river basin, Guadiana headwaters area. · Sub-humid: Duero river basin, southern inner basins of Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Guadalquivir river basin. · Humid: Galicia and Cantabrian area.
Geology	One of the most relevant features of Spanish mainland is its central plateau, flat lands with average altitude of 600 m above the sea level that occupy nearly half of the Spanish area. It is vertebrated by the Central Cordillera, characterised by granitic and shale formations. The origin of the plateau lies in the existence of two depressions of the basement that were filled by hundreds of metres of clay-loamy and gypsiferous sediments coming from the adjacent mountain chains. There are other two outstanding deep depressions (Ebro and Guadalquivir) filled by tertiary materials that offer low resistance to erosion. Limestone is the main constituent of the existing alpine-type mountain chains.
Geomorphology	Spain is the second highest country in Europe. The 24% of its total area is found above 1000 m a.s.l. and a 76% between 500 and 1000 m. The four structural elements that characterise the Spanish relief (plateau, mountain ledges, large depressions and peripheral mountain chains) are permeable and drained by a large number of springs that provide the main flow of the biggest rivers. Oppositely, the siliceous basement that form the Central Mountain System, The Galician Massif, Sierra Morena and Extremadura, are low permeability materials, characterised by very quick surface runoff and moderate basal flows.
Soils	According with the Soil Taxonomy classification, in Spain we find ten of the eleven orders of soil established. For this reason the Spanish territory is called “the miniature continent” by a number of geographers. The most represented orders are: Inceptisols (little more than 60% of the total territory), Entisols (15%), Aridisols (10%) and Alfisols (5%).
Surface water	The little river flow reveals the scarce pluviometry within the hydrographical network. Big collectors are divided in those coming from the central plateau (Duero, Tajo and Guadiana rivers), and those flowing from the depressions (Ebro and Guadalquivir) with water volumes that can go beyond 5,000 hm³. The other rivers, of minor importance, correspond to the maritime slopes of the peripheral mountain chains and have small length and small river basins. Among these, the Mediterranean ones are characterised by very little and irregular flow, while the Atlantic ones have bigger, regular flow. The total volume of waters collected by Spanish rivers is about 106 000 hm³. In Spain there are a total of 2474 lakes and lagoons, mostly small-sized but with a great diversity with regard to their genesis.
Water storage features	Dam capacity is at present of 53,191 hm³ (INE 2001). This quantity is one of the highest dam index ratio in Europe. The only problem is that they are unequally distributed. A good percentage of these is constituted by dams with hydroelectric capacity: Maximum capacity of hydroelectric dams is 18,047 million kWh (UNESA, 1997).

Map 2: Climatic classification according with the UNESCO’s humidity index

Map 3.: Precipitations in Spain

Map 4.:Actual yearly average evapo-transpiration

Overview of the country

Water Demand and Supply Status

Urban water supply

This demand encloses the one originated in population centres, both to satisfy domestic consumption and linked to other activities, can be industrial or service-related. It sums up to some 4,700 hm³ /year.

Coastal concentration of population specially affect the Mediterranean area, with in a process tending to coastal conurbation. The important tourist development of these regions, which in many cases is the main economic activity, sums to this demographic distribution feature and water spatial demand. Tourist activities produce an approximate yearly increase of 10% in the population demand, although the increase is higher due to the high consumption of several recreational activities. This increase is very concentrated in time, more precisely in the summer period, which have bigger supply problems.

Forecasts made by the basin hydrological plans suggest increases of 15% and 36% on the present situation, in 10 and 20 years respectively. The draught periods of the last decade have shown the serious risks of lack of supply in large regions.

As regards sewerage, the percentage of purified urban waste water is around 60%, although only 45% meets the requirements of Directive 91/271.

Industry

Yearly water quantity dedicated to industry use in Spain are at present about 1,700 hm³, approximately 5% of total consumption. This number do not include those industry use supplied by the urban distribution grid nor those aimed to power production (refrigeration and hydropower) whose specific consumption is quite low. Geographical distribution of the industrial activity shows similar trends to the population one, with a higher concentration in the eastern Mediterranean coast, especially in the regions of Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia.

Irrigation

Quantitatively speaking, irrigation is the main use of water in Spain, with a demand higher than 24,000 hm³/year, that represents more than 80% of the total. These resource supply an area of 3.4 million ha, that are close to 18% of the total cultivated area. Irrigation demands, precisely in deficitary areas, are nowadays one of the main points of friction within the resource assignment policy, especially in the subject of inter-basin transfers.

Environmental requirements

Conservation of ecological and landscape resources linked with water requires maintaining minimum flows: water table discharges, river flow-level or quantity of water reaching the sea at the river mouth, without which these resources can suffer a strong degradation. In the Mediterranean area and in the south there is a clear concentration of the risk of scarcity, and this situation corresponds to the natural scarce availability of water resources and to the high concentration of demands that concern all water uses: agriculture, tourism, industry and population supply.

Scarcity in deficitary areas had as a first effect an accused tendency towards over-exploitation of ground water, above its natural renewal ratio. In the actual case of ground water, exploitation is at present around 5,500 hm³ per year, that cover 30% of urban and industrial supply and 27% of the irrigated area. Excessive exploitation of surface water resources sums up to the impacts produced by ground water overexploitation. This policy brought to the present situation where Spain is, after Cyprus, Albania, Iceland and Norway, one of the countries with the highest number of dams per inhabitant (30 dams for every million of Spanish inhabitants).

Map 5. Density and distribution of the population. The effect on the deficit areas.

Table 2. Available Surface Water Resources in the 13 water regions.

Water Availability (hm³)	A 1967	B 1980	C 1990	D 1991	E 1993	F 1998
Coastal Galicia	-	-	-	1302	1302	-
North	8525	7448	-	4967	8828	-
Duero	6405	9111	9465	9269	7797	10229
Tajo	4356	8343	6281	6233	6233	5063
Guadiana	2252	2462	3017	2385	2963	2963
Guadalquivir	3564	2810	4780	3255	3416	3451
South	538	785	533	861	1109	1007
Segura	665	1317	1742	700	1125	1500
Júcar	1850	3104	2003	2564	3052	3437
Ebro	8502	14133	9289	9337	10727	9898
C.I. Catalonia	697	1656	-	1358	1358	1587
Balearic Islands	-	313	-	312	312	300
Canary Islands	-	496	-	496	420	417

a) Water Resources. II Social and Economic Development Plan. Presidency of the Government, PG (1967).

b) National Hydrologic Planning. Inter-Ministry Commission of Hydrological Planning. MOPU-CIPH (1980).

c) Hydrologic Plan. MOPU-DGOH (1990).These data only refer to river basins involving more than one Autonomous Region.

d) Water in Spain. Engineering Institute of Spain. IIE-ITGE-UNESA. (1991).

e) PHN Report. MOPT (1993). It includes over-exploited water tables: Guadiana I (280 hm³/year), Guadalquivir (25 hm³/year), South (60 hm³/year), Segura (325 hm³/year), Júcar (125 hm³/year), C.I. Catalonia (50 hm³/year), Balearic Islands (30 hm³/year) and Canary Islands (160 hm³/year). Total 1055 hm³/year. It does not include returns (8.000 hm³/year), nor re-use or desalination (115 hm³/year)

f) River Basin Hydrologic Plans (1998).

Table 3. Available Groundwater Resources in the 13 water regions. Deficits of water balance.

Water Availability (Hm³)	Natural reloading	Pumping Hm³/year	% Pumping/Reloading	% Pumping/total	Deficit (¹) p/r > 1
Coastal Galicia	2234	-	-	-	-
North	8716	52	-	-	-
Duero	3000	371	12.4	6.7	-
Tajo	2393	164	6.9	3.0	-
Guadiana	750	814	110	14.7	240
Guadalquivir	2343	507	21.6	9.2	10
South	680	420	61.8	7.6	68
Segura	588	478	81.2	8.6	215
Júcar	2492	1425	57.2	25.8	54
Ebro	4614	198	4.3	3.6	-
C.I. Catalonia	909	424	46.6	7.7	10
Balearic Islands	508	284	55.9	5.1	14
Canary Islands	681	395	58.0	7.1	32

1. Deficit of exploitation units in relation with pumping/reloading > 1

Ratio pumping/reloading Ratio pumping/total pumping in Spain

Figure 1. Distribution of consumptions

Table 4. Water consumption in the 13 Water regions.

Water Consumtion (hm³)	Domestic Use	Industry	Irrigation	Refriger.	Total	Consumo	Retorno
Coastal Galicia	210	53	532	24	819	479	340
North	550	527	532	73	1692	646	1046
Duero	214	10	3603	33	3860	2929	931
Tajo	768	25	1875	1397	4065	1728	2337
Guadiana	157	84	2285	5	2531	2877	654
Guadalquivir	532	88	3140	0	3760	2636	1124
South	248	32	1070	0	1350	912	438
Segura	172	23	1639	0	1834	1350	484
Júcar	563	80	2284	35	2962	1958	1004
Ebro	313	415	6310	3340	10378	5361	5017
C.I. Catalonia	682	296	371	8	1357	493	864
Balearic Islands	95	4	189	0	288	171	117
Canary Islands	153	10	264	0	427	244	183

Map 6. The Hydrologic basins of Spain – Water Administrations.

Environment and Protection

Groundwater over-exploitation is among the most relevant environmental effects of water use in Spain. Convergence of intensive crops and displacement of population towards deficitary areas is contributing to a progressive degrading of water subterranean resources, with all the associated problems such as marine intrusion, salinisation of soils and degrading of riverine and coastal ecosystems.

Risks can be better appreciated in the Eastern Spanish regions, in the Mediterranean area and the islands (especially the Canary Islands). This situation responds to a natural limited water resource availability and to a high demand concentration, that affects all water uses: agriculture, tourism, industry and domestic supply. Over-exploitation of subterranean resources reaches very serious levels in the Segura basin and in the most populated islands with a high tourist development.

The situation of subterranean resources has an important repercussion on surface waters, as it brings to spring , lowering of basic levels of river flow, reduction of inland wetlands and coast salinisation. The exhaustive exploitation of surface water resources sums up to the impacts produced by over-exploitation of ground waters. We have in fact regulation percentages higher than 70 % for the Jucar and near to 90% for the Segura basin.

Spread contamination coming from agriculture, connected to the increasing use of fertilisers and other chemical like insecticides, is another worrying danger for Spain, as it can bring to serious eutrophication problems in dams and contamination of ground water.

As regards waste water and purification, in spite of the big effort in infrastructures, it has not been possible to stop degradation of water quality, that affects both human consumption and natural areas linked to water (wetlands, river borders, etc.). As a reference it is noteworthy that 60% of water from Spanish rivers is not apt for human consumption.

To control water quality, Spain relies on 1200 championing stations, 1000 of which make periodical championing while the resting 200 make it only occasionally. They all make up the water Quality Integral Network (Red Integral de Calidad del Agua - ICA) that allows to check water characteristics in the hydrographic basins. The vigilance on water quality is carried out by more than 200 Alarm Automatic Stations (EAA) that continuously measure a group of parameters that work as water quality indicators and other elements of alarm.

The most affected natural areas, landscapes and ecosystems of interest, especially those included in the Natura 2000 network, correspond to:

· Riverine ecosystems, especially those located in the Mediterranean areas, which are seriously threatened.

· Continental wetlands and lake systems, subjected to strong impacts caused by water-tables over-exploitation or surface water depletion.

· Small wetlands linked to ground water.

· Lands traditional submitted to irrigation, whose abandon involves the loss of an important landscape and cultural heritage of the Mediterranean region, which in several cases also host habitats or species of regional. national or communitarian importance.

The following table shows the main significant effects linked to water deficit caused by over-exploitation:

Table 5. Environmental effects associated with water deficit and water-table overexploitation

ECOLOGICAL AND PUBLIC-USE REPERCUSSIONS	HYDROLOGICAL EFFECTS
ECOLOGICAL AND PUBLIC-USE REPERCUSSIONS	Water-table overexploitation	Marine Intrusion	Deterioration of water quality in water tables	Reduction of river contributions	Deterioration of surface water quality
Subsidence processes
Soil salinisation
Eutrophication of masses of water
Alteration of coastal ecosystems
Degradation of wetlands (e.g. Daimiel – Doñana)
Degradation of riverine ecosystems
Loss of biodiversity - water species of animal and plants
Alteration of riparian communities
Degradation of agricultural traditional landscapes
Health-Sanitary risks linked to public river-beds
Loss of recreational resources linked to water
Loss of landscapes

Critical effects
Serious effects
Moderate effects

Water laws and Regulations

With regard to competencies in the field of water, in the Spanish case we must take into account the complementary, and sometimes decisive role of the Autonomous regions. Article 149.1.22 of the Spanish Constitution attributes the State the exclusive competency in the subject of legislation, planning and concession of resources and water exploitation when they flow through more than one Autonomous Region. On the contrary, according with the article 148.1.10, Autonomous Communities can have competencies on water exploitation projects and construction, and irrigation channels of interest within their territory. Most Autonomous regions have been transferred these competencies, which also include subterranean waters.

The Water Law (Ley de Aguas - 29/1985), is the State’s basic text that regulates this subject, and only regulates the State’s competencies. Nevertheless, the exercise of these competencies has to be ruled by the delimitation criterion used by the Water Law, based on the “river basin” concept, being the interregional river basins of exclusive competency of the State, with few exceptions. Law 9/1992, December 23^rd, regulates the transfer of competencies to Autonomous regions. The Water Law disposes that Basin Administration bodies have to be created for hydrographical basins exceeding the Autonomous Regions’ territory. These Basin Administration bodies will be the State’s bodies with competencies on this issue. In Spain exist nine Basin Administration bodies (Confederaciones Hidrográficas): Northern Spain, Duero, Tajo, Guadiana, Guadalquivir, Southern Spain, Segura, Júcar and Ebro.

Within this framework, one singularity is the “Canary Islands’ Water Law” of 1990. Since the special hydrological characteristics and the islands’ water rights historical context, this law give almost total competency to the Canary Islands’ Government, including the possibility to develop Hydrologic Plans.

The hydrological planning has also the Law rank (Law 10/2001-Hydrological National Plan), and organises a large part of competencies and functions within the water management scope.

Beside the Water Law, and among a large variety of regulations related with the use of water, the following ones are worth emphasizing:

· Water resources for domestic use: Royal Decree 1138/1990: Health-Technical regulation for the supply and quality control of potable water for public consumption.

· Regulation of municipal competency with regard to potable water supply to population, including sewerage (beside the articles of the Water Law): Basis Laws of the Local Administration.

· Regulation of the Water Public Domain (R.D. 849/1986, April 11^th).

· Standards to measure the quality of water, including water contamination by persistent organic pollutants are contained in the Royal Decree 927/1988.

· Royal Decree 261/1996, February 16^th, on the protection of water against the contamination produced by effluents from agricultural sources.

· Energy aspects related to water are regulated by the R. D. 2818/1998, about electric power produced by plants powered by renewable energy sources, waste or cogeneration.

· Royal Decree (Ley 9/2000) on Envirronmental Impact Evaluation (including trasvases of but of 100 hm³ /year).

As regards water resource protection, it is integrated by an extensive legislative repertory referring to the protection of the environment and of habitats declared protected areas or of community’s interest. The several national laws (in particular Law 4/1989 about conservation of natural areas and of wild flora and fauna), are complemented by autonomous regions’ laws, and in both cases specific regulations on water in protected areas are included. Special attention is given to forest areas that are providers of water resources, wetlands (especially SBPZ and RAMSAR sites) and to those sections of rivers that host a high biodiversity. The Legal Order attends to and is especially complemented by the Directive 92/43/EEC regarding conservation of natural habitats and wild flora and fauna, as well as the Directive 79/409/EEC, relative to wild bird conservation.

Most EC’s directives have been transposed the related legal order, both with regard to water protection and public health. As an example, there are more than 20 EC Directives, incorporated to the Spanish legal order regarding quality requirements of water in function of its use.

Map 7. Autonomus Regions in Spain

Institutional framework and constraints

The institutional and competency framework of hydrological planning and water use is structured on the base of the two following instruments:

• The National Hydrological Plan.

• The Hydrological Plans of each basin.

The Canary Islands' Hydrological Plan should be added to the above instruments because of its singularity and its specific competencies.

The National Hydrological Plan, approved by law (Law 10/2001) defines the competency areas and the water management framework in Spain. This Plan was among the most polemic elements as regards water policy in this country, especially referring to the water transfers from "excedentary" basins such as the Ebro case. The development and trusteeship of the Hydrological Plan and of the water policy at the national level are exclusive duty of the Ministry of the Environment, where an outstanding role is played by the General Direction of Hydraulic works and Water Quality. The Water National Council, already included by the Law of 1985, is the higher advisory body, has functions of great importance as regards hydrological planning in Spain, in particular with its capacity to sanction the Basin Hydrological Plans.

The management at the level of each hydrographic basin is assigned to the already mentioned Basin Administrations, whose functions are collected within art. 21 of the Law, and are the following:

· The elaboration of the Basin Hydrological Plan, its following-up and revision.

· The administration and control of the public water domain.

· The administration and control of the exploitations of general interest or that affect more than one Autonomous Region.

· Planning, construction and exploitation of all works carried out with charge to the own funds of the Administration and those that have been assigned to them by the State.

· Those deriving from agreements made with the Autonomous Regions, Local Administrations and other public or private bodies, or those signed with privates.

The competency survey closes with the Users' Communities, registered at the Basin Administration, among which the irrigators' Communities stand out for their importance. On the other hand, the State Water Society have been created for the promotion of the hydraulic infrastructures included within the Basin Hydrological Plans. Their objective is to facilitate the joint intervention of private and public initiative for the execution and exploitation of the works carried out in each basin and, in definitive, to optimise the available economic resources.

One of the characteristics of the institutional conflicts is found in the disparity of criteria between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment when it is time to elaborate the Basin Plans. An almost permanent disagreement that rises from the contradiction that who decides water agricultural uses is not the final responsible for them. A significant example is given by the clear disconnection between the National Hydrological Plan and the National Irrigation Plan, presented by the Ministry of Agriculture but not approved, that plans 250,000 ha of new irrigated lands, while the Basin Hydrological Plans forecast a total of 1,500,000 ha. On the other hand the viability of new irrigated lands is not so clear, and it should be questioned to consider them as the main, or only way of rural development.

Municipalities have competency for potable water supply to the population and for sewerage. To carry out these services, local bodies can use the type of management allowed by articles 57, 85 and 87 of the Law of Bases for the Local Regime. Therefore it can be chosen between a direct management (by the Local Administration itself, its Autonomous bodies or commercial societies with exclusive capital), or an indirect management (commercial societies with majoritarian capital, concessions and agreements).

It is within Municipal supply that the extreme overlapping and atomisation of competencies is shown in the clearest and most negative way. The Administration's uncontrol of the concessionaire companies' functioning is very high, in a framework where most supply services with a public management are being transferred to private companies (it does not exist a national regulation. It is worth reminding that he process of privatisation is not subjected to any control and in most occasion it is used to correct deficits, of various origin, of the municipal budgets. Competency and institutional overlapping is also shown in cases such as low efficiency of the purification plants given to municipalities, most of which are unoperational or abandoned after they have been entrusted to municipalities.

Low bill collecting efficiency sums up to the competency dispersion of the institutional framework. It is due not only to the same concept of the economic-financial regime, but also to the low efficiency of the system to collect exactions (collection is situated around 50% of total billing and in many cases considerable delays take place). Furthermore, 75% of the water consumed in Spain still does not pass through a meter (although water is constantly qualified as a "scarce resource"), and this favours a unmeasured and inappropriate use, that is added to the fact that pipelines suffer losses frequently higher than 40-50%.

Table 6. Responsible Authorities in the Water Sector

Responsibilities	Agency/Authority
Planning Regulations	Ministry of Environment Water National Council (Consultative) Basin Administrations (Conferederaciones Hidrográficas) Autonomous Regions (A.R.)
Administration and control of the hydraulic public dominion.	Basin Administrations (Confederaciones Hidrográficas) Autonomous Regions (internal river basins)
Domestic and urban	Ministry of Environment Ministry of Industry Ministry of Health and Consumption. Basin Administrations Civil Works Administration (A.R) Health Administration (A.R.) Industry Administration (A.R.) Environment Administration (A.R.) Diputaciones Provinciales. Minicipalities as final administration in charge
Irrigation	Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Environment Autonomous Regions Comunidades de Regantes
Infrastructures	Ministry of Environment Basin Administrations (Confederaciones Hidrográficas) State Water Society Autonomous Regions
Purificatin and Re-use	Ministry of Environment Ministry of Development Ministry of Health and Consumption. Basin Administrations Civil Works Administration (A.R) Health Administration (A.R.) Environment Administration (A.R.) Diputaciones Provinciales. Minicipalities as final administration in charge
Hydroelectric uses	Ministry of Environment Ministry of Industry and Energy Basin Administrations Autonomous Regions

Management, Institutional and policy options

Spanish water policy is found in the National Hydrological Plan, in the Basin Hydrological Plans and, complemantarily, in the policies and decisions developed at the level of each Autonomous Region.

The strategic options set forth in the National Hydrological Plan can be summarised as follows:

Programmed reduction of demand.

· Maintenance of present-day water contribution by inter-basin transfers.

· Increase in available volumes through a major use of waste water and modernisation of irrigated lands.

· Adoption of measures of saving and modernisation of irrigated lands.

· Programmed withdrawal, by public initiative, of the irrigated lands supplied through overexploited water tables which are unsustainable on the medium-long term.

· Application of compensatory measures to the affected collectives.

· Priority maintenance of water domestic supply.

· Reduction of losses during water transportation (there are limit situations that at present are around 50% in large trasvases).

Large-scale desalination. Covering deficits through large-scale desalination of seawater complemented by saving and re-use measures:

· Applications of the measures considered in the previous option, except the reduction of irrigated lands, incorporating an additional water contribution from seawater desalination.

· Maintenance of consumption levels similar to the present ones, only increased by the new demands of supply.

· Effective control of the agricultural demand increase through legal and technical-administrative instruments.

Inter-river basin transfers. Covering deficits through water transfer from other basins, according with the existing possibilities, complemented by desalination, saving and re-use measures:

· Stabilisation of agricultural demand, maintaining irrigated land area at the same level corresponding to the present-day situation, through application of legal and technical-administrative instruments.

· Adoption of water saving and re-use complementary measures similar to those contemplated in the previous options.

· Local seawater desalination for local supply.

· Inter-basin transfer are planned following the criterion of minimising both water costs and environmental effects on the affected river sections and the territories that host the water-transportation infrastructures.

This last option has generated the strongest social tensions and environmental contestations between the different basins. It is worth reminding that the National Hydrological Plan states in its prologue that “inter-basin transfers should constitute the last solution".

Beside the multiple initiatives at the Autonomous regions level, at the State level there is a group of Programmes and action lines that exemplify the options of future with regard to water policy and management. We have therefore:

· The Programme for the improvement and modernisation of traditionally irrigated lands, whose aim is irrigating water saving, improvement of water quality, re-use of waste waters and energy saving.

· As regards sewerage, there is a National Plan of Sewerage and Waste Water Purification, through which infrastructures for sewerage and waste water purification are planned, with the aim to achieve by 2005 that urban settlements of more than 2,000 inhabitants will rely on adequate purification systems. Nevertheless, municipal wastes sum up to 3.500 hm3/year approximately, of which more than 700 are directed to the sea. In these moment re-use of waste water is close to 100-150 hm3/year, and constitute one of the most delicate points to resolve as regards sustainable management of water resources, due to the high degree of competency disorder.

Furthermore a number of awareness promotion campaigns on sustainable use of water have been carried out, although their repercussion at a national level is of little significance. On this line it is necessary to include the impact of the new municipal, large-reaching initiatives such as the implementation of local Agendas 21, that include programmed improvements regarding water sustainable use and water quality.

Map 8. Distribution of the irrigated land. Water source.

Map 9. Distribution of the water deficit (all concepts).

Table 7. Constraints facing the water sector

Category

Constraints

Natural

Unequal water spatial distribution.

Uneven precipitation distribution, spatially and temporally.

Dependence on transboundary waters.

High sensitivity and risk of loss of the aquatic ecosystems.

Frequent droughts.

Human

Tendency - distribution of population towards deficit areas.

Tourist influx is uneven in space and time.

Excessive water consumption for irrigation.

Demand peaks in the dry season.

Groundwater and surface water is contaminated by pollutants.

Spread contamination coming from agriculture.

Overexploitation of underground aquifers.

Irrigation of unsuitable or nonprofitable cultures.

Lack of environmental awareness.

Technical

Technological incapacity of the local authorities and particularly maintenance of

water infrastructure.

Old distribution networks with high losses (average 50 years)

Complexity of transvases.

Lack of proper irrigation techniques that would save water.

Low efficiency of the purification systems. Little technological diversification.

Illegal connections to the networks.

Absence of control (60% of water not entered).

Use of conventional energy sources for the massive desalination.

Lack of information on new technologies for water saving and management

Financial

Water pricing is politically influenced and not based on water cost, leading to

inadequate finances for the funding of further infrastructure.

Inadequate prices for final uses in sectors like the tourism and the new cultures - competition with other traditional sectors.

Deficient allocation of funds to the remote regions.

Serious difficulties for the application and collection of the “spill canon”.

Noninclusion of environmental externalities.

Destiny of the financial collection for aims different from the water.

Administrative and Institutional

Overlapping and atomisation of competencies (e.g. urban supply).

Lack of coordination among responsible authorities.

Lack of participation of key water actors in the Basin Administrations.

Undefinition of the roll of the Users Communities.

Lack of convergence of the sectorial policies.

Absence of homogenous criteria in the privatization processes.

Lack of citizen participation.

Table 8. Water Resources Planning Matrix

Activity	Municipal Authority/ Water Utility	Autonomous Regions	River basin authorities	Users Communitiess	Ministry of Environment	Ministry of Agriculture	Ministry of Industry
Surface water Use Storage Recharge Diversion Quality monitoring Assessment	X X X	X X X X X X	X X X X X X	X X	X X X X X	X X X	X X X X
Ground water Use Storage Recharge Quality monitoring Assessment Well/drill permits	X X X	X X X X X X	X X X X X	X X	X X X X X	X X X	X
Irrigation network Rehabilitation Modernization		X X	X X	X X	X X	X X
Reuse Drainage water Wastewater	X	X	X X		X X	X
Desalination	X	X		X	X
Introduction of technology		X	X		X		X
Efficient water utilization Domestic Industrial Irrigation	X	X X X	X	X	X X X	X	X
Legislation Regulation and codes Standards	X	X X			X X	X X	X X
Policy setting					X
Water allocation	X	X	X		X
Project financing		X	X	X	X	X	X
Project design		X	X		X
Project Implementation		X	X	X		X
Operation and maintenance	X	X	X	X
Pricing	X	X	X		X		X
Enforcement
Water Data records	X		X		X	X

Selection of Representative Regions

Among the areas and regions affected by water resource deficiency, which fall within the arid and semiarid areas scope, two spaces have been selected, in view of their representative social, environmental and economic features.

Map 10. Selected regions.

1. The Canary Islands. This region is made up by a group of volcanic islands with a land total area of 7,000 km² and a total population of 1,781,366 inhabitants (2001, INE). A large situation variability of water behaviour exists in the different islands. A large part of the archipelago’s lands is subjected to drought conditions where disarrangements between resource availability and evolution of consumption progressively increase. The existence of intensive agriculture characterised by a high water consumption, the very rapid rise of population and the spectacular development of mass tourism create serious conflicts and risks with regard to water availability. Resorting to sea-water desalination, that was at a first beginning suggested as a complement and a security system to face supplying problems, is progressively turning to be the basis for water supply in the most arid islands.

Map 11. Canary Islands.

2. Doñana, region and connected hydrographic basins. The wide region of Doñana and its surroundings represents at present an authentic paradigm as regards water resource management, planning and assignment. It hosts the most important wetland of Europe, the Doñana National Park (Ramsar and World Heritage site), but at the same time its surroundings host a population of more than 100,000 inhabitants, whose activities (fundamentally recently introduced agriculture) progressively clashes with the requirements needed to maintain the seasonal water levels for the wetland conservation. The programme Doñana 2005 and the Sustainable Development Plans of the Doñana surroundings try to face the dilemma between conservation and development in a framework of water scarcity and progressive alteration of water tables in an area where quality of water, both for human consumption and for the conservation of basic ecosystems, is a serious problem.

Figure 2. Orthophoto of the Doñana region.

Range of Circumstances in Canary Islands

Due to their geographic localisation, close to the Tropic of Cancer, the Canary Islands are under the influence of the trade winds, originated by the circulation of air masses around the anticyclone of Azores. Air-layering caused by trade-winds generates a characteristic layer of stratocumulus clouds on the northern coast of the higher islands, which occur between 500 m and 1,500 m. Humidity condensation in these areas involves a complementary water contribution, saving the western Canary Islands (higher than 500 m) from extreme aridity conditions.

In spite of that, the Canaries are poor in freshwater resources. The extent of their own freshwater resources, 177 m³ per inhabitant per year, place them in the last place within the Spain classification by hydrographical river basins, and this number is very far from the national average of 1,389 m3/pers./year. With a population near to 1.5 million inhabitants, the islands host every year more than 10 million tourists whose average daily water consumption is of 350 l/pers./day (Insular Hydrologic Plans). This increasingly pronounced difference between resource availability and consumption is one of the present-day most relevant characteristics of the archipelago. Rainfall in the Canary archipelago is very scarce (an average of 310 l/m²/year) and irregular, both in time and space.

Topographic difficulties and permeability of the existing geologic materials lead to the exploitation of only a minimum share of the surface water resources. It is explanatory enough that the volume of water retained by the some 100 dams built to this end (41 hm³/year), only reaches the 33% of their total capacity.

A relevant feature of subterranean water management is the fact that they are private property, a singularity in Spain. This market is subjected and regulated by the Canary Islands’ Water Law (12/1990).

Another important feature that affects especially the Eastern islands is the progressive dependence from desalinated water, which is greatly increasing every year. An extreme case is the island of Lanzarote, where 97% of water supply is from desalination (the maximum security forecast of the system is 5.4 days). The progressive energy conception of water in the Canaries is reflected by the fact that in the year 2000 almost 15% of available power in the grid was directed to this aim.

Agricultural consumption is a priority on islands like La Palma and El Hierro, reaching the 80% of total consumption. On the main islands (Tenerife and Gran Canaria), where the greatest part of population is concentrated, urban and tourist consumption assume greater protagonism. In the lesser islands of the archipelago with a strong tourist penetration, tourist water consumption is progressively approaching the urban one (Lanzarote and Fuerteventura).

One of the most distinctive features of water consumption for agriculture refers to the generalised presence of intensive crops characterised by a high demand. Banana plantations –representative crop and main consumer of water in the Canary archipelago-, is characterised by water demands around 11,350 and 14,850 m³/Ha/year. These crops receive subventions in the framework of the European Agricultural and are important producers of landscapes that have progressively have reached a crisis point, similarly to other productions, because of conflicts with tourist and urban demand and the as a consequent rise in water price, since the private character o the canary water market.

The unforeseeable population growth of the last years causes strong uncertainty as regards water resource planning. In only five years the foreign population growth doubled the natural growth rate. A similar tendency is detected in the tourist sector, where the tourist lodging capacity has practically doubled itself in the period 1998-2001.

As regards sewerage, we also find important deficits, especially among the dense scattered settlements of the islands, which directly influence subterranean waters due to contamination of water tables. Only the two main islands rely on acceptable grids although they also have significant deficiencies in specific settlements. The remaining ones have serious deficiencies regarding sewers or pour too large quantities of surface or subterranean wastewater.

With regard to water purification, serious competency conflicts have also been detected in tuning and maintenance of the purification systems that at present have a very low operational rate (close to 30%). Scattered purification systems are a distinctive feature of the Canary situation. Price policy of purified water, public owned, is also characterised by its variability and inconsistence. In Tenerife, as an example, the price of purified water treated to a third stage is 0.36 €/m³ while that treated to only a second stage is 0.31 €/m³, while in Gran Canaria prices are around 0.12-0.15 €/m³, clearly below cost.

Water quality for urban supply followed a descending curve in the last years. Following-up carried out by the different hydrological plans detects negative effects in the quality of subterranean waters, to which those derived from hydrogeologic situations that present specific water tables characterised by a high fluor content have to be added.

Public management, especially the local one, faces serious difficulties for a sufficient and efficient implementation. Difficulties have to do with, from one side, budget origin and destination, without forgetting financial collection; from another side with the politic price of cost transfer to users, the progressive rise in price of the higher number of services required, and lastly with the population to serve, characterised by a very high growth rate or by depopulation. All this has an influence on scale economies or diseconomies.

The studies: SPA-15, Canarias Agua 2000, Mac 21, advances of several Insular Hydrological Plans , canary Islands Hydrological Plan, constitute the basic list of planning actions in the matter of water carried out in the Canary Islands in the last 25 years.

Within this context, the strategy of the Canary Islands Hydrological Plan is founded on the following principles:

· To promote a sustainable use of water resources on the basis of a medium-large term planning.

· To protect water ecosystems as an essential principle for a sustainable development.

· To guarantee a qualitatively and quantitatively appropriate water supply to achieve a sustainable development.

· To achieve the economic efficiency of water offer and use compatibly with social and environmental dimensions.

· Congruence between economic and environmental criteria and the design of an integrated management system, with a prudent use of regulatory and market processes.

· To advance in setting up innovatory and realistic policies on endowment and prices.

To these criteria some considerations of the Infrastructure Director Plan within the section regarding water resources:

· To improve knowledge about natural resources, setting up an automatic control network within the whole region that allows the following-up of comparable data and the establishment of a sound basis to achieve and maintain a sustainable use of the public water domain.

· To protect quality and guarantee renovation of the different sources of production.

· To optimise the implementation of systems for non-conventional resource production.

· To intervene in sewerage and supply infrastructures.

Figure 3 . Evolution of water demand (perspective – year 2000)

Source: Canary Island Water Centre

Figure 4 . Evolution of water production (year 2000 perspective)

Sοurce: Canary Island Water Centre

Table 9.WATER BALANCE

Concept/Island	FUERTEVEN ⁽¹⁾		LA GOMERA		GRAN CANARIA		EL HIERRO		LANZAROTE		LA PALMA		TENERIFE
Concept/Island	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%
Precipitation	16	100	140	100	466	100	95,3	100	127	100	518	100	865	100
Evapotranspiration	s.d.	-	69	49,3	304	65	69	72,4	122,2	96	238	46	606	70
Surface water	4	25	11	7,8	75	16	0,3	0,3	1,3	1	15	3	20	2
Infiltration	12	75	60	42,9	87	19	26	27,3	3,3	3	265	51	239	28
*Sources: Advance of island hydrological plans.* 1. *Island* *Plan of* *Fuerteventura* *s.d.- without data available***

Table 10. WATER BALANCE

	FUERTEVENT.		LA GOMERA		GRAN CANARIA		EL HIERRO		LANZAROTE		LA PALMA		TENERIFE
PRODUCTION	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%
Surface water Small dams	2,6	21,3	3,4	24,3	11	8,5	-	-	0,07	0,7	5	7	1	0,5
Groundwater	5,3	43,5	10,6	75,7	98	75,4	1,45	100	0,2	2,3	68	93	211	99,5
Desalination	4,3	35,2	0	-	21	16,1	-	-	9,6	97	0	-	0	-
Re-use	-	-	0	-	0	-	-	-	s.d.	-	0	-	s.d.	-
TOTAL	12,2	100	14	100	130	100	1,4	100	9,9	100	73	100	212	100
*Sources: PPHH of La Palma, La Gomera y El Hierro. Hydrological Plans of Tenerife and Lanzarote;” Las Aguas del 2000” - y PIO Fuerteventura.* s.d.- without data available**

Table 11. WATER CONSUMPTION BY CATEGORY

	FUERTEVENT.		LA GOMERA		GRAN CANARIA		EL HIERRO		LANZAROTE		LA PALMA		TENERIFE
CONSUMPTION	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%	Hm³	%
Irrigation - Agriculture	8,4	61,8	6,1	43,3	75	58	1,2	85,7	0,3	6	58	79,5	109,2	52,7
Domestic and Services	2,7	19,8	6	42,6	38	29	0,2	14,3	2,4	52	6	8,2	62,7	30,2
Tourism	2,5	18,4	-	-	15	11	-	-	1,4	31	-	-	14,1	6,8
Industrial	-	-	2	14,1	2	2	0	-	0,5	11	2	2,8	5,3	2,6
Resources nonused	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6,9	9,5	4,5	2,2
Losses in trasvase	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11,5	5,5
TOTAL	13,6	100	14,1	100	130	100	1,4	100	4,6	100	72,9	100	207,3	100
Sources: PHH La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierr, Tenerifeandy Lanzarote; “Las Aguas del 2000”.

Figure 5 . Percentage water consumption of the tourist sector on each island

Source: Canary Island Water Centre

Figure 6 . Tourism water supply and desalination

Source: Canary Island Water Centre

Figure 7 . Evolution of water production and population demand (perspective). Gran Canaria Case.

Source: Canary Island Water Centre

Table 12: Growth in tourist accommodation. 1986-1996. Canary Islands.

Year	Tourists	Rooms
1986	4,169,050	201,493
1987	5,068,242	251,067
1988	5,416,652	308,177
1989	5,352,205	343,559
1990	5,459,473	364,269
1991	6,136,990	375,995
1992	6,327,112	337,482
1993	7,551,065	337,975
1994	9,256,817	330,614
1995	9,693,086	324,124
1996	9,804,540	328,254

Source: White Paper on Canary Island Tourism. 1998

Table 13. Canary Islands Matrix

Natural conditions and infrastructure	Regional Context	Climate Type	Oceanic Type: Mediterranean Template
		Aridity Index	0.2 < AI < 0.6 coastal and oriental islands
		Permanent Population	1781366 (+331000 Tourist/average)
	Water availability	Total Water Resources /Availability (hm³) Groundwater Surface water	702 78
	Water quality	Quality of surface water	Good
		Quality of groundwater	Average
		Quality of coastal water	Poor
	Water Supply	Percentage of supply coming from: - Groundwater - Surface water - Desalination	87% 5% 8%
	Water Supply	Network coverage: - Domestic - Irrigation - Sewerage	60% 85% 60%
Economic and Social System	Water use	Water consumption by category: - Agriculture - Domestic and services - Tourism (only accommodation) - Industrial - Non-used resources - Losses (internal network)	58% 27% 7% 3% 2.5% 2.5%
	Water use	Resources to population index	438
	Water demand	Water Demand trends	Variable - Increasing
		Consumption index	53%
		Exploitation index	58%
	Pricing system	Average household budget for domestic water (pa)	356 € (Average price 1,55 m³)
		Average household budget for agricultural water	Variable
		Average household income	16800 €
		Cost recovery	Average
		Price elasticity	Average
	*Social capacity* *building*	Public participation in decisions	Poor
	*Social capacity* *building*	Public education on water conservation issues	Poor
Decision Making Process	*Water Resources Management*	Water ownership - Groundwater - Surface water	Mostly private Public and private
	*Water Resources Management*	Decision making level (municipal, regional, national) regarding: - Water supply for each sector - Water resources allocation for each sector	Regional - Local Regional - Island
	Water Policy	Local economy basis	Tourism
	Water Policy	Development priorities	Tourism

4. Range of Circumstances in Doñana and its surroundings

Doñana and its surroundings constitute a natural space featuring the widest variety of pressures regarding the use and assignment of water resources. As a territory in which the most important European wetlands coexist, the National Park of Doñana includes areas of rice fields, intensive crops and a considerable tourist activity, mainly concentrated on the coastline.

Doñana could be considered to be an excellent laboratory for studying the management of water resources, a place where all the preservation and development strategies applied during the last decades share the difficulties of managing water resources.

Regarding the policies of preservation and management of water resources, the plans have entirely focused on the National Park of Doñana. With an area of more than 50 thousand hectares, Doñana is one of the world’s most emblematic coastal wetlands. Apart from being a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area for birds, the National Park of Doñana was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1980, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. The Biosphere Reserve includes a buffer zone of 26 thousand hectares, summing a total of 77,260 hectares. Doñana belongs to the small group of coastal wetlands within the three categories, together with San San-Pond Sak (Panama), Palawan (Philippines), Danube Delta (Romania-Ukraine), Ichkeul (Tunisia) and Everglades (USA).

Around this sanctuary of the European biodiversity is the Natural Park of Doñana and its Surroundings, located in the municipalities of Almonte, Hinojos, Lucena del Puerto, Moguer and Palos de la Frontera (province of Huelva), Sanlúcar de Barrameda (province of Cádiz), Puebla del Río, Aznalcázar, Villafranco del Guadalquivir and Villamanrique de la Condesa (province of Seville). This extended list is representative to the administrative and territorial complexity of the area.

The territory occupied by Doñana’s basins, which also includes the National and Natural Parks, holds over 180,000 permanent inhabitants. The figures indicate a considerable increment compared to the 128,000 inhabitants registered in 1981. More than 60% of the employment is concentrated on the agricultural sector, and another 25% is devoted to the service sector, which is mainly focused on tourism.

The agricultural development in the area arrives at a later stage due to its hard conditions: the XIX century witnessed a series of failed efforts oriented to drying the salt marsh. By the end of the 1920’s, the area devotes itself to massive rice crops, which nowadays occupy over 35,000 ha, thus becoming a factor of pressure for the National Park.

After this episode, in the 1970’s, the FAO generates a report that results in the creation of a Plan for Agricultural Development in Almonte-Marismas (decree 1194/71), driven by a development-oriented mentality that resolves to declare it an Area of National Interest. This is the consolidation of 45,960 ha of crops; 30,000 of which correspond to irrigated land. This strategy is based on recognising the existence of an important water table in the area. Nowadays, the useful surface for irrigation sums up to approximately 14,000 ha.

Regarding the agricultural exploitation, we must highlight de importance of the strawberry trees, which occupy some 2500 ha, and constitutes a very concentrated source of employment. The exploitation of groundwater does not directly affect the water supply of the National Park, although it does affect the quality of underground waters, which sometimes feature nitrate concentrations of more than 50 mg/l.

The tourist activity, mainly concentrated on the area of Malascañas, located at the border of the National Park, is also a factor of pressure for water resources, especially during times of drought. Matalascañas offers a tourism capacity of 63,233 people, with a high level of concentration during the high season.

All these episodes resulted in an alteration of the water regimes, followed by a serious overexploitation of groundwater and manipulation of superficial water systems, which have seriously endangered the preservation of the National Park of Doñana.

This has lead to a progressive recognition of the fact that the preservation of the National Park is not only an obligation brought about by the need to preserve this important natural sanctuary, but also of the fact that Doñana is a patrimonial value which cannot be dissociated from the future economy of the area. This concern has resulted in the implementation of several strategies oriented to the sustainable management of water resources. In this sense, we must highlight the International Experts Commission’s Report about the Development of Strategies for the Sustainable Development of Doñana in 1992. This report has inspired many of the principles for the alternative management of water resources during the last years.

But in 1998, Doñana faces one of its worst moments due to the breaking of a pyrite pond belonging to a mining exploitation, that caused the flooding of more than 2600 ha with high metal content muds. Although the muds did not reach the park itself, this accident caused red alert within all administrations and the whole society. After an impressive deployment of technical and human resources, the muds could be removed avoiding an ecological catastrophe with unforeseeable consequences.

What at the beginning appeared to be one more regrettable accident due to lack of planning and foresight in natural areas management turned to be the start of one of the most important wetland regeneration initiatives ever carried out in the whole planet. In reply to this situation, the big water regeneration programme named “Doñana 2005” was started, supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment, whose immediate environmental actions were funded with some 140 million €. It is a project whose objectives are a lot more ambitious than providing the mere solution of the problems caused by the accident. It is also complemented by another important action called “the Green corridor of Doñana”, supported by the “Junta de Andalucía” that will be carried out within the buffer zone.

Hydrological characteristics

The area is divided into two domains:

a) The salt marsh. Is a very plain area that combines periods of flood and drought. Its main sources of water are the rivers and tributaries and, in a smaller proportion, some few emergencies of underground water running through pipes.

b) The rest of the territory is basically made up of sand. This is the area where water precipitations overload the water table (called water table 27). It holds most of the water demanding activities.

On the overall system, the role and the alteration of underground waters is one of the fundamental problems for the management of this resource in the area. As in many other groundwater, overload is one the factors where estimations are more subject to error. The figures range from 50 to over 200 mm/year.

The challenges

The conflict between preservation and a balanced leverage of water resources in Doñana materializes with the solving and recognition of the following aspects:

a) The overexploitation of groundwater is seriously affecting natural areas of vital importance. The effects of overexploiting the underground waters in the ecosystems seem to be put off with the years. Nowadays, a great portion of the water table under the salt marsh has fallen from a 1-meter level over the ground to a 2-meter fall under its own level.

b) Overexploitation is starting to allow the entrance of the salty waters contained in the sediments of the salt marsh, with a considerable impact on the quality of waters.

c) The massive usage of fertilizers in the main agricultural activities has a devastating effect on the quality of the waters.

d) The organic contribution due to domestic tributaries also adds to the problem, since the network of cleansing stations is still to be completed.

e) The agricultural and industrial residues, especially the vegetable waters derived from olive manipulation, results in scattered episodes of contamination in large brooks.

f) The original water system of the salt marsh is deeply altered. For many years, a series of corrective actions have tried to balance the complex system of the salt marsh. A considerable part of the Doñana Programme 2005 is oriented to regenerating the hydrological systems for the basic functions of the salt marsh and its compatibilization with human needs.

Table 14. Doñana Matrix

Natural conditions and infrastructure	Regional Context	Climate Type	Mediterranean
		Aridity Index	0,4<AI<0.65
		Permanent Population	180000 (+75000 Tourist seasonal/average)
	Water availability	Total Water Resources /Availability (hm³) - Groundwater - Surface water	Min: 155 hm³/year Max: 425 hm³/year Min: 32 hm³/year Max: 78 hm³/year
	Water quality	Quality of surface water	Average
		Quality of groundwater	Average
		Quality of coastal water	Average
	Water Supply	Percentage of supply coming from: - Groundwater - Surface water - Desalination	97% 3% 0%
	Water Supply	Network coverage: - Domestic - Irrigation - Sewerage	95% 95% 60%
Economic and Social System	Water use	Water consumption by category: - Agriculture - Domestic and services - Tourism (only accommodation) - Industrial - Non-used resources - Losses (internal network)	84% 4% 8% 1% 3% 30%
	Water use	Resources to population index
	Water demand	Water Demand trends	Variable - Increasing
		Consumption index	53%
		Exploitation index	Max: 49%
	Pricing system	Average household budget for domestic water (pa)	50 €
		Average household budget for agricultural water	8114 € Consumption 7000m³/ha size property average = 10 ha
		Average household income	7.535 €
		Cost recovery	Average
		Price elasticity	Fix
	*Social capacity* *building*	Public participation in decisions	Higth
	*Social capacity* *building*	Public education on water conservation issues	Average
Decision Making Process	*Water Resources Management*	Water ownership - Groundwater - Surface water	Public and private Public
	*Water Resources Management*	Decision making level (municipal, regional, national) regarding: - Water supply for each sector - Water resources allocation for each sector	Regional - Local Basin
	Water Policy	Local economy basis	Agriculture Tourism
	Water Policy	Development priorities	Intensive Agriculture Tourism

Spain: Range of circumstances and region analysis

Map 2: Climatic classification according with the UNESCO’s humidity index

Urban water supply

Industry

Irrigation

Environmental requirements

A

Canary Islands

HYDROLOGICAL EFFECTS

Table 8. Water Resources Planning Matrix

Activity

Surface water

Ground water

Irrigation network

Reuse

Desalination

Legislation

Policy setting

FUERTEVENT.

GRAN CANARIA

CONSUMPTION

Regional Context

Water availability

Water quality

Water Supply

Water use

Water demand

Pricing system

Water Policy

Regional Context

Water availability

Water quality

Water Supply

Water use

Water demand

Pricing system

Water Policy