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7WATER POLICy IN SPAIN: A PORTRAIT

By. Pr. C. López*, Pr. I. Martín* and Pr. C. Alcácer* (CENTA)

Hydraulic infrastructures are a key element for economic growth in a developing country that has extensive fields not yet cultivated and an economy that is mainly agricultural. This was the case of Spain in the last century; since getting new resources was relatively easy during this period, their use seemed unlimited while the concern for environmental problems and water quality merely existed.

The hydraulic policy was highly beneficial, since it allowed an improvement in the quality of life, the growth of a flourishing irrigation agriculture and the development of other economic sectors such as industry, and more recently, tourism. Nonetheless, the traditional water management model has shown signs of collapse for several years now, since after decades of strong public investment, Spain is still subject of severe and frequent conflicts related to water. It is also worth mentioning that the economic structure of the country, its political situation and the perception of the problems have significantly changed over the years.
We live in the transition of a model based on the construction of dams and water transfers to a new one more concerned for the management of the water demand. In this context, a new policy is developing that considers water as an economic, social and environmental heritage that we must conserve and protect. In other words, a policy that will make us feel proud of the heritage we leave for future generations.
This change occurs just in the middle of the process of adjustment to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/CE (2000) which implies a new conception of water management. The main goal of the WFD is to maintain and improve the aquatic environment of the European Union. The Directive forces the Member States to reach a good ecological and chemical status of all water bodies (groundwater, surface, coastal and transitional) by 2015.
After reviewing crucial landscape issues to understand the singularity of the Spanish situation and the phases of the traditional water policy during the 19^th and 20^th century, this paper intends to show the key themes of the new water policy. These are: (i) adjustment to the new European regulation (WFD); (ii) agriculture and the modernization of irrigation; (iii) the urban water cycle (supply and sanitation); (iv) risk management (droughts and floods) and (v) the new environmental line of this policy.

7.1Approach to the Spanish landscape

The main characteristic of the physical and biological part of the Spanish landscape is the variety of environments, which implies the existence of very different hydrological environments, with strong aridity gradients, with islands of humidity in dry contexts, of strong runoff variability, with a hydrogeology with significant regional differences and high water distribution heterogeneity.

The location trends of the Spanish population are: the population stagnation in the inland and demographic and territorial pressure on the coast due to the growing economic dynamism derived from tourism, the new agriculture and the strategic situation of the coast. This demographic boost will trigger an increase in the hydrological demand in the mind and long term, so that the availability of hydrological resources, in quantity and quality, can be a limiting factor for tourism development and the maintenance of the associated economic activity in these territories.
Irrigation is a key element in the landscape structure and one of the territorial variables that configure the total demand of hydrological resources. It is the most important sector, considering both land occupancy and water use and comsumption. Occupation in the agricultural sector has decreased to almost half in 10 years, from almost 2 millions in 1984 to a little more than 1 million in 1994. These tendencies are expected to continue in the next few years; in the year 2010, the population actively dedicated to agriculture will not surpass a half million employees. the current and future situation of irrigation agriculture is a key factor to determinate the water requirements in the different Spanish regions.

7.2The Institutional framework.

The organization of the territory as a result of the Regional Governments´s scheme is a significant element in the current configuration of the Spanish Institutional framework. This organization has brought new legislative problems in regards to the competencies concerning water and topics such as sovereignty, territoriality, public organization, etc.

There is a complex reality in which the National and the Regional Governments have important competences and shared responsabilities regarding environmental issues and resources management, on which the Municipalities also have a saying. This situation has caused an important change in the political and administrative organization of the territory; change that has a great influence on water issues.
Two of the most important organizations are: the Basin Organizations, or the Hydraulic Administrations in the watersheds enclosed within a single autonomic region, and the Irrigation Communities. The first ones because they are the basic competent administrative organizations in this subject, and the second ones for being the receivers of the greater part of the consumptive use of water in Spain.

7.3Existing problems: hydrological resources.

It is very important an adequate conservation of the measuring networks for the correct estimation of hydrological resources, since they are one of the components of the hydrological planning practice. The large number of existing networks and organizations in charge of their management requires a coordinated effort and the establishment of unification and information exchange procedures.

Regarding the hydrological resource must be remarkable: (i) The marked spatial and temporal irregularity of the resource; (ii) the fraction of groundwater origin; (iii) the uneven territorial use of groundwater; (iv) the Spanish hydrological singularity in the European context; (v) the difference between natural resources and available resources; (vi) the local importance of non conventional resources and (vii) the climate change.
In Spain, the average annual runoff is unevenly distributed in the territory. In addition to this spatial irregularity, there is also a marked temporal variability in the contributions in some areas. Regarding the fraction of groundwater origin, there is the need to study aquifer recharge in depth, especially since this knowledge would improve the understanding of the role of groundwater in the hydrological resource as a whole. Such role is extremely important in some of the main basins, especially in those with the greatest hydrological difficulties.
When we analyze the Spanish hydrological singularity in the European context, the contrast between our natural resources and the equivalent ones in other European countries shows that Spain is the most arid Community Member, with a precipitation equivalent to 85% of the European Union average and one of the highest potential evapotranspiration of the continent, causing the least runoff of the Member States (approximately half of the European average).
The difference between natural resources and available resources is due to the seasonal irregularity of the resources in the natural regime that prevents their full exploitation to satisfy the different water requirements, since available resources are much less than the natural or existing ones. In fact, just a little fraction, less than 10%, could be used in the natural regimenwas not artificially altered.
Regarding the local importance of non conventional resources, in addition to the conventional resources, there are others that, due to the experimental character of the techniques used or for its uniquiness, are considered as non conventional resources. Currently the direct reuse of purified wastewater and the desalinization of marine and brackish waters are regarded as non conventional resources. Currently the use of non conventional resources is aproximatelly 1% of the available conventional resources. Even though they are essential for solving local problems, its participation in the solution of global water shortage problems in Spain is very little.
Regarding the climate change, it is important mention that the climate scenarios foreseen for Spain by the Climate National Commission show a slight reduction of the average annual rainfall and an increase in the temperatures that will being a decrease in the overall runoff.
In sum, the arid and semiarid conditions of the Iberian Peninsula (generally associated with rainfall irregularity and the risk of droughts), the traditional irrigation agriculture and the demographic pressure on the Mediterranean coastal landscape can be considered as the tree key drivers of the Spanish territory, setting the geographic framework of this paper.

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