expectations water transfers Rivers like the Tajo-Segura are bleak in the short and medium term due to climate change, increasing flow scarcity and the economic costs involved in these operations. This is the conclusion of a report published by three Spanish experts from the University of Zaragoza in the journal Estudios sobre la Economía Española under the title ‘Status and perspectives of water resources in Spain’.
Based on this fact: “The biggest drought damage in the European Union is in Spain“due to global warming, the study shows that this phenomenon is occurring It will reduce water availability in the Duero and Tagus by 14% to 25%” depends on the amount of CO2 emissions that will occur from now on.
Climate change will reduce water availability in the Duero and Tagus by 14% to 25%
In fact, according to the authors (José Albiac, Encarna Esteban and Safa Baccour), in Spain “ The only basin with sufficient flow to realize inter-basin transfers is the Ebro.. There are also significant flows in the Duero and Tagus basins, but the availability of water for transfer is reduced due to the Albufeira Convention, which requires Portugal to maintain a minimum flow of 3,800 hm3 in the Duero and 2,700 hm2 in the Tagus.
There is not enough water to transfer
Remaining availability after that “There is very little room left for inter-basin transfers” and even less from now on.Increasingly frequent and intense droughts in the peninsula will prevent water exports. Moreover, these exports limit the future expansion of economic activities in regions that release water and lose their flow, endangering ecosystems.
When analyzing the possibility of taking an initiative Transfer from the Ebro riverThe study by Albiac and colleagues at the University of Zaragoza shows that the transfer should be allocated to basins with the greatest scarcity, such as Júcar, Segura, the Andalusian Mediterranean and the Guadalquivir. However, the authors point out that there is an economic problem because “The cost of transfers exceeds the cost of sea desalination (€0.50) from Alicante (€0.56/m3)”, so it would only make sense to transfer around 200 m3 to Castellón and Valencia, but not to Alicante.
“There is no point in transferring water from the Ebro to the Segura, Andalusian Mediterranean and Guadalquivir basins, because the transfer cost is close to 1 Euro/m3 in the Segura and exceeds 1 Euro/m3 in the Andalusian Mediterranean and Guadalquivir. basins,” the report adds. In some places in the Júcar basin, reducing subsurface extraction for less profitable crops or irrigation may be an alternative.
“These transfers favor basins where user groups expand water extraction in an uncontrolled manner.”
Also, according to the research, it is necessary to take into account: “Inter-basin transfer reduces the social benefit of the transfer basinTherefore, the condition for transfers is to increase the common social benefit of the transferring and receiving basins.”
Who benefits from transfers?
“In any case, Large inter-basin transfers do not seem to be the best solution to promote sustainable water management in basins. These transfers favor basins where user groups expand water extraction in an uncontrolled manner. Expansion of irrigation without legal coverage has caused serious environmental degradationl. On the contrary, it harms watersheds where user groups achieve greater sustainability in resource use and maintenance of environmental flows,” the article states.
Writers who face all this They advocate institutional collaboration as a way to adequately manage water and they point to the Júcar basin as an example, which has good economic and environmental outcomes.
However, despite the necessary institutional cooperation in Spain, “Water withdrawals from basins continued to increase.” “Spanish society and political leaders prioritize the expansion of water supply over the protection of water resources and dependent ecosystems,” citing the law legalizing illegal wells in Doñana as an example.
The excess of irrigated area is the culprit: “Increasing famine is a result of the massive expansion of irrigation and the lack of control over the overexploitation of aquifers in confederations of these basins,” says the study, which advocates reallocating water between different sectors and protecting environmental flows.
Reference work: https://documentos.fedea.net/pubs/eee/2023/eee2023-29.pdf
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