3. Priority areas
Scenarios for future development e.g. in the areas of irrigation, drought management, desalination, urban needs and tourism could be prepared, in particular focusing on implications for capacity building and training, where such scenarios do not already exist.
Such scenarios could be developed in co-operation between the national institutions responsible for water resources management and appropriate organisations with experience in the selected areas.
For the above action as well as all other actions discussed below it is important to stress that these should be implemented within the framework of integrated water management at the river basin level. The river basin is the geographical area within which rainwater and other precipitation either infiltrates into the ground or flows through a system of rivers, tributaries and lakes, through estuaries, lagoons or other brackish waters towards the sea. A river basin includes its associated groundwater aquifers. Thus, action taken within a confined area of a river basin without consideration of the overall impact on the river basin may upset the ecology and equilibrium of resources up- and downstream of that area and sometimes even alter the hydro-morphologic and ecological features of the entire basin.
Within this management framework actions of a sub-regional or local nature should take account of the particular situation and conditions, identifying any natural constraints on water use due to ecological needs, the amount of available exploitable resources and needs for protection and/or improvement of the quality of the resource. Moreover, the particulars of use patterns, demands and socio-economic structures within the specific areas of application should also be taken into account.
This applies in particular to provision of water for irrigation, which presently consumes an average of approximately 65% of water in the region but also to wastewater treatment, and to any other sectoral use of water. Water use within these sectors cannot appropriately be dealt with on a sustainable basis without being placed within these overall water management and development perspectives.
3.1 Integrated management of drinking water supply, sanitation and sewage services
Water is an environmental, social and economic asset and as such needs to be managed with the objective of conserving a common patrimony in the interests of the community at large. Thus it is necessary and important to guarantee water availability over time by means of sustainable forms of exploitation, that will allow nations to cope with present demands without jeopardising environmental balance and the needs of future generations.
Scarcity of water resources in some Mediterranean regions further emphasises the importance of this. The Blue Plan/MAP study "Water in the Mediterranean Region" showed that 28 million persons, 7% of the entire Mediterranean population, lie below the poverty line of 500 m3/year per capita and 115 million persons, 29% of the populations are below the threshold of 1000 m3/year per capita.
The predicted future population size in the Mediterranean area, due both to population growth and population shifts towards urban and coastal areas will further increase the pressure on water resources. For the next 30 years the Blue Plan forecasts a consistent reduction of per capita water resources, especially in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries.
There is an urgent need for reducing consumption and for water conservation by means of efficient management of the entire cycle of water use: from optimal management of reservoirs or other sources of supply (wells, springs) over rehabilitation of water conveyance and distribution networks and sewage systems, to efficient management of treatment plants (for drinking water and wastewater treatment).
Reorganisation of water services based on an integrated approach should distinguish between the parties responsible for safeguarding the user and the parties in charge of management. It is also necessary to overcome the often fragmented organisation of water management and to redress the imbalance between the nature of the service and the rates and cost of the service through an appropriate regulatory body.
The organisation of integrated water service management implies a rethinking of management strategies in the majority of Mediterranean regions. Reorganisation should ensure the necessary technical and economic efficiency as well as education and use of appropriate practices of personnel and human resources required for meeting the objective of satisfying user needs and improving living conditions, as well as ensuring respect for the environment and the aquatic ecosystem.
A major commitment, in terms of both human and financial resources, is required to ensure these changes, especially in those countries where water resources are scarce or dwindling.
To implement the integrated management of drinking water, sewage systems and wastewater treatment, several management and technological actions can be envisaged. Important inspiration for actions ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation of wastewater and the involvement of users and the general public may be found in the Protocol on Water and Health to the UNECE Convention on Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, which was signed in London in June 1999. Actions should prioritise demonstration projects, technical assistance and training on the following topics:
Priority will be given to the following aspects:
In the presentation and promotion of delegated management systems, training and awareness raising should encourage action aimed at efficiency of customer service, user consultations and information conflict management.
Concerning the economic aspects, application of the "polluter pays" principle will be encouraged, as well as the introduction of suitable tariff structures and good business management (customer relations).
3.2 Local water resources and water demand management (quantity and quality) within catchment areas and islands;
The organisational structure of local authorities and governments operating within the region in the water sector is often ill suited to integrated management of environmental issues. Areas of a region may have common environmental problems but are usually administrated by a number of different bodies, sometimes with conflicting views as to the action to be taken, creating serious obstacles to establishing and implementing action plans and conservation programmes.
From the point of view of water resources and demand management, the appropriate geographical and administrative area is par excellence the river basin. Administrative arrangements must recognise and take account of this.
Structures for integrated basin management of water involve at least the following elements:
These activities will include:
Possible topics to be taken into consideration in planning activities include:
The organisation of water management at the river basin level in Mediterranean countries will necessarily have differences due to the varying administrative systems, legislation, management practices, technical and financial capacity, distribution of resources and last but not least, the trans-national extension of some major drainage areas.
According to an analysis conducted by the Blue Plan/MAP in 1996, the natural water resources of the Mediterranean basin countries (i.e. the total mean annual volume derived from normal levels of precipitation on the surface area) amounts to 985 km3/year, 74% is found in the North (Albania, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, the former Yugoslavia), 21% in the East (Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Turkey) and only 5% in the South (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia).
In many Mediterranean islands surface water is often scarce or even periodically lacking due to the prevailing semi-arid climate, while groundwater resources are highly vulnerable to the impacts of human activity. Commonly there is competitive use for limited water resources leading to overexploitation and short- or long-term depletion in quantity and quality.
Agriculture and industry consume substantial amounts of an island's natural waters while polluting in the same process. Irregular patterns of demand as a result of the seasonal influx of tourists in Mediterranean islands stress further the available resources and the supply system at a time when demand for irrigation water is at its peak.
Rapid population growth in Mediterranean islands during the past decades has strained their naturally occurring water resources. Today, there is an urgent need to adopt a more rational approach conductive to the efficient and conjunctive exploitation of a variety of water resources that reduces dependency on the more expensive desalinated sea water.
Most river basins in the Region are rather small in size while 21 basins have surface areas of more than 10.000 km2. Some major river basins are transboundary with a corresponding need for addressing access to shared water resources and impacts on the quality of water up and down stream in the basin.
Furthermore, the pressure exerted by abstractions from and discharges into water bodies creates, in many cases, tensions and emergency situations both as far as quantities and quality of water is concerned.
These ecological, social and economic reasons all call for the establishing and implementing of water resources management at the river basin level as a crucial strategic re-orientation for the Mediterranean countries. Demand management should be one of its important components.
It is essential that action be taken in both with respect to administrative organisation and to planning to enable establishment and implementation of integrated management of water resources and demand at the basin level. The integrated management has the objective of achieving sustainable supply levels, to meet water demands cost-effectively and to involve all stakeholders. Establishing of a status definition of water resources and protection and conservation of water resources is generally necessary but particularly important for islands.
Possible actions could take the form of demonstration projects, technical assistance and training on the following topics:
Best available techniques should be identified and applied to combine rational use of natural water resources with other non-conventional sources of supply, notably reuse of treated sewage and wastewater and, where appropriate desalination. Projects performed within this perspective will obviously have a very strong demonstration element in the Mediterranean context and will offer a valuable opportunity for training and transfer of information and know how.
Actions related to planning and particularly targeted to the situation on islands include:
- The most suitable treatment for specific situations;
- Application scenarios for non-conventional sources (e.g. treated sewage effluent);
- Water conservation procedures;
- Targeted quality standards;
- Optimised abstraction rates;
The project activities shall comprise:
This should include a thorough assessment and a rigorous stock-take of the present situation. Historical data shall be compiled and verified with the setting up of data banks suitably interfaced to GIS.
This should comprise water balance computations, model simulations of different abstraction scenarios, assessment of water catchments (basins) with volumetric modelling, statistical analysis of consumption trends, water quality assessment, building of network-models, analysis of network flow regimes, identification of losses, assessment of pollution hazards and assessment of sewage availability.
On the basis of the water resources assessment the most appropriate methods of water supply and water treatment should be identified to meet demand cost-effectively, integrated tariff structure proposed and future management policies defined. A coherent and comprehensive master plan will be finally integrated containing freshly revised policies for water resources management and accompanied by a set of actions with operational projects and their relative cost, required to achieve the desired efficiency standards and the necessary improvements.
3.3 Water scarcity management and combating drought;
Drought can be defined as a significant decrease below mean precipitation over a period of time that varies for each geographic zone. Drought is one of the most complex and least understood natural phenomena. Recurrent drought is on the increase and is of particular concern in countries and regions characterised by scarcity of water resources and strong variability of rainfall. The beginning and end of drought are difficult to forecast.
Drought tends to have more dramatic impact on semi-arid and arid areas.
Climate change is expected to further exacerbate the situation with recurring longer periods of drought in some areas.
Depending on its duration, intensity and geographical extension drought may have serious consequences on the quality of life of the affected populations and on all economic activities, especially irrigated agriculture. This is aggravated, in particular, in areas without integrated water management. Its effects may be on the quality and quantity of water stored in reservoirs, on water flow in watercourses and on groundwater and aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems.
Monitoring of drought is of major interest both to enable adoption of policies for responding appropriately to drought and to study the causes and possible evolution of this phenomenon with a view to developing methods for forecasting drought, including the effects of possible climate change.
Appropriate early response to prolonged periods of drought is often not integrated into water management. Drought phenomena are most often managed as emergencies without the proper overall adjustments in basic water management systems. Too much focus has been put on construction of excessively large reservoirs and storage capacity, rather than on appropriate proactive management of the reservoirs. It is important to change this practice and ensure that water management systems in areas with recurrent drought fully integrate long term as well as emergency measures into its management system and practices. One important action therefore is the development of appropriate management of reservoirs and water storage practices in preparation for periods of increased scarcity and drought.
The Mediterranean region's particular vulnerability to extended periods of drought must be considered within the regional water policy. The Mediterranean has low per capita water availability with water availability unequally distributed in space and time both at the regional level and within each country. Eight countries, with a total population of 120 million have water a availability of less than 1000 m3 per capita per year and in the present situation demand management and use of non-conventional resources are practically the only actions possible.
Six out of these countries with a total population of 30 million now lie below the subsistence level of 500 m3 per capita per year. In these countries water resources are exploited in their entirety, or seriously overexploited.
Water demand has risen dramatically over the last decades, mainly due to three factors: population growth, tourism and irrigated agriculture. Population increase has concentrated on large urban areas, resulting in a corresponding diversion of water supply to these areas. The trend is less marked in the North than in the rest of the Mediterranean basin.
The tourist sector is growing and the Mediterranean area attracts more tourists than anywhere else does in the world. Tourism is characterised by a strong seasonal variation in water demand with peaks in the summer when resources are at their lowest. Increase in water demand is, in turn, concentrated along the coast. Water demand in this way is being shifted towards satisfying the needs of the tourism industry and to include changes in choice of crops in agriculture.
In the Mediterranean the age-old practice of irrigation typical of Mediterranean civilisations still takes up an overwhelming 80% share of total water consumption. Except for the northern countries where irrigation complements rainfall, in the South it is the main source of water for crops. Furthermore, water for irrigation is being strained not only to satisfy food requirements for national consumption, but also for growing crops for export.
The increased water demand has led to the construction of water regulation works, dams, extensive exploitation of groundwater and large scale transfer of water between basins.
Overexploitation of water resources, combined with soil erosion due to unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation and improper land use management over the last decades has lead to serious degradation of nature and vegetation and consequent loss of water-holding capacity thereby increasing the risk of extensive desertification, in particular in the Mediterranean area. The effects of recurring extended periods of drought will further aggravate this situation.
Drought management has been addressed at the Mediterranean level by organisations such as the Water Initiative, the Mediterranean Water Network, the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, CEDARE and ACSAD, and at the national level by almost all Mediterranean countries.
The following lines of future work should be pursued:
Available meteorological and hydrological information and data as well as ecological data should be gathered, such as for example the information and data collected within the relevant projects financed by the European Commission (DG XII) including the MEDHYCOS project in order to be able to adequately assess this phenomenon.
This implies defining a system of common indicators and parameters in order to establish comparable criteria and methods for defining, characterising and monitoring the evolution of drought. This could imply developing methods for evaluating the risk of drought for large homogeneous zones of the Mediterranean and guidelines for long term planning and emergency plans
This study should be concerned with water management measures, especially the use for strategic purposes of groundwater, the interconnection of different water supply systems and the use of non-conventional resources, as well as strategic elements for demand management, including the adoption of a tariff system.
This will involve gathering information and experience on a national level concerning monitoring of emergency situations, preventive measures adopted and their effectiveness, the resulting social, economic and environmental impact.
This framework should allow authorities and managers to take decisions in preparation and mitigating of the effects of drought, rationalising water use and making financial instruments available for implementing the actions required for efficient management both in emergency and normal situations.
3.4 Irrigation water management
Irrigation is a basic tool for stimulating the development of rural populations and for increasing food production. In certain geographic areas, such as the Mediterranean, irrigation is a prerequisite for development. Irrigation is also the highest consumer of water resources in the Mediterranean region and present use patterns as well as any changes in the future are in urgent need of an overall integrated water management approach.
The main problems are the decreasing water availability and increasing negative impact on aquatic ecosystems and groundwater resources due to excessive water abstraction. Modernisation of existing irrigation schemes and demand management aimed at optimising physical and economic efficiency in the use of natural water resources and recycled water is essential for a new irrigation policy. Public investment policies aimed at improving access to available water resources should be based on integrated water management, respect for the environment and as an important element promote better practices for wise use of water in agriculture, including recycled waste water.
Accordingly, irrigated agriculture in the Mediterranean area today finds itself at the threshold of potential dramatic challenges and radical restructuring not only due to the serious environmental consequences of the present use pattern but equally importantly due to foreseeable impacts of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area, in particular if it would be extended to the agricultural products. There is an urgent need to define its future strategy in terms of what agriculture should produce and how.
Irrigated agricultural production will have to be adjusted to allow for planned and managed allocation for irrigation water consumption. Priorities of a social and environmental nature should also be considered.
Moreover, a new irrigation policy should be developed within the joint perspectives of integrated rural development and environment policies, not as a separate economic sector.
In the Mediterranean, land under irrigation amounts to 16 million hectares and over the last few years this figure has risen by roughly 200,000 hectares per year. This increase equates to an increase in irrigation water consumption of some 2,000 Hm3, equal to around 70% of total water consumption, not accounting for countries in the North.
Considering this rapid expansion, many irrigation systems have poor efficiency on account of the irrigation techniques adopted, inadequate management systems and ill-structured policies
Provisioning of the required quantities of water for irrigated agriculture in the Mediterranean is the predominant interest, whereas the importance of a rapidly declining water quality is underestimated. Attention must be paid to the need for setting up mechanisms for integrated management of water quality and quantity.
In the future, irrigated agriculture in the Mediterranean will have to face up to sustainable use of water, including producing more with less water. This calls for efficient management, adequate supply systems and proper maintenance of irrigation infrastructures, and examination of cropping patterns.
The expansion of areas under irrigation differs from one country to another. In those countries where a large percentage of water is used in agriculture, the increase in irrigated land should be accompanied by a corresponding efficient use of water and/or the use of treated wastewater.
However, in many of these countries the majority of good farmland has already been developed for irrigation and any new schemes are bound to be proportionally more costly to build.
The price of water should be considered as an integral element of integrated water management. Most Mediterranean countries subsidise irrigation water, supplying cheap water mostly with the public sector financing the irrigation infrastructures. Thus new tariff systems need to be worked out whereby the user bears (most of) the real cost of water. Furthermore, water rates should be calculated in relation to the irrigation system used and based on measuring the water actually consumed by the user.
However, in a system characterised by water scarcity, economic measures alone do not suffice to guarantee efficient water use. Water distribution facilities need to be improved and rights of use appropriately regulated.
Because of its importance in the Mediterranean Basin the issue of irrigation water has been addressed by numerous institutions and from many different standpoints, and is assigned priority status in the Rome Charter. These include the Water Initiative, the Marseilles Conference, CIEHAM, the Mediterranean Water Network, ACSAS, the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, and the SMAP. The work conducted so far points to some suggested actions for the future:
3.5 Use of non-conventional water resources
"Non-conventional" water resources may be defined as treated wastewater and desalinated seawater or brackish water.
The reuse of treated municipal wastewater in agriculture is consolidated practice in many Mediterranean countries. However, there is a need to stimulate the controlled reuse of suitably treated water (for example for groundwater recharging), since in many countries there have been numerous instances of reusing raw sewage creating major health hazards.
This is a clear "win-win" situation as urban wastewater treatment must be built extensively in order to avoid further deterioration of water resources and the environment and any productive use of treated wastewater will help improve both the pressure on water resources and the cost of operating the treatment plants.
Desalination of seawater or brackish water for industrial use or drinking water supply entails problems basically of an economic nature, whereas technology is readily available and usable. The major constraint in using this resource is the cost of the product.
Desalination therefore appears more feasible and economically competitive in insular or coastal areas with serious water shortages and preferably where low cost energy is available.
The reuse of treated wastewater is of major interest in the Mediterranean basin. In this way better quality water would be made available for uses with more demanding quality requirements.
The possible ecological impact on the aquatic ecosystem of a substantial decrease in wastewater being discharged into rivers, lakes and coastal zones must be analysed in order to ensure the establishment of a policy sensitive to environmental protection and safeguarding water from pollution.
In Mediterranean insular regions or coastal areas suffering from severe scarcity, desalination of seawater or brackish water may represent an important tool to secure water supply, particularly because this technology becomes economically competitive with other possible sources of supply such as underwater conduits and water carriers.
For example in Malta over 60% of the available water resources come from desalinated seawater.
Where water shortage is less severe, desalination is of marginal interest, mainly limited to local situations or cases of emergency.
Suggested Actions for the use of non-conventional water resources includes applied studies, demonstration projects, technical assistance and training on the following topics:
3.6 Preparation of national and local scenarios for the period until 2025 that enable precise objectives to be set and action to be taken for sustainable water management
In the water sector prospective studies are a basic tool for gaining a deeper insight into possible evolutionary trends and their impact, and contribute to anticipating and alleviating future problems.
By developing several scenarios it is possible to illustrate the main kinds of possible changes and, should the need arise, to indicate the need to search for more acceptable futures than those that result from simple projection of the observed trends.
This prospective exercise is all the more valuable if it can rely on the participation of the different actors concerned. It can then produce real shared "visions" of futures to be avoided or futures to be explored, taking into account the issues at stake, the constraints and the economic, social and environmental impacts.
This makes it easier to draw up integrated water management strategies setting specific objectives to be achieved in well-defined time limits and specifying the roles of the different actors involved.
When developing scenarios greater accent should be placed on water demand management and the economical, social and environmental aspects need to be comprehensively addressed. Water demand management, in particular the reduction of wastage, the strive for enhanced efficiency, and demand regulation, is one of the main possible and desirable areas where progress can be achieved in integrated water policy. Selection of performance indicators in the scenarios allows performance goals to be set.
In many Mediterranean countries, water withdrawals are approaching the amount of available resources Water scarcity, temporary or chronic will increase and the situation will deteriorate over the next few decades. Water scarcity is a consequence of the dramatic increase in water demand that will continue to grow.
Increasing water availability, the traditional response to water scarcity, has today or will soon reach its limit. Improved demand management (reducing unused water losses and misuse) is an important unexploited reserve. More water-saving management of resources in the Mediterranean should allow recovering significant quantities of water (75.5 km3/year), as compared to water demand projections to 2010 and 2025.
This is why the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development (MCSD) and the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention feel that it is in water demand management where the most significant progress can be achieved in water policy in the Mediterranean basin and that full integration of demand regulation into water planning policies should be promoted and time horizons set for these objectives.
In addition, water demand could undergo major changes as a result of the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (target 2010), especially if it were to cover agricultural products. This type of assumption must therefore be taken into account in Mediterranean scenarios.
The development of national and local prospective studies could include in particular:
These actions could give rise to training, information exchange, know how transfer and awareness raising and mobilisation of initiatives for the actors and users involved, with a view to enhancing awareness of the need to anticipate changes and strengthen institutional capacities.