The aim of this paper is to contribute to the still scarce literature on CostEffectiveness Analysis (CEA) in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in water scarce areas illustrated through a case study in Southern Spain. CEA is the preferred method to select policy measures to achieve the good ecological status of water bodies as prescribed by the WFD. It generates a ranking of the measures, according to the ratio between the equivalent annual cost and the reduction of impacts, to select the measures to be included in the Program of Measures (PoM). Here, the water-saving measures discussed in the public participation process for the elaboration of the PoM for the Guadalquivir River Basin are analysed using CEA. A methodological approach, including uncertainty for cost and efficiency of measures is proposed. A comparison between pressure and impact analysis of the effectiveness of measures shows that, in the context of the WFD, CEA should be based on the impact of the measures rather than on the pressure reduction, as the latter can lead to a misleading ranking of the water-saving measures.

The valuation of natural resources is a tool used for improving allocation and management of water resources. This research proposes a «quasi-hedonic» approach as a simple way for estimating the value of irrigation water. Water is considered here as an exogenous variable impacting on land price, which is estimated for the Guadalquivir River Basin (Southern Spain). Results show a capitalized water value in the range 2.8 €/m3 to 4.2 €/m3. The most frequent value is 3.46 €/m3, resulting in a value of water rent between 0.14 €/m3 (r = 4%) to 0.35€/m3 (r = 10%), depending upon the applied discount rate.

RESUMEN:Este trabajo pretende contribuir a la aplicación de la DMA en relación con la selección de medidas para el uso sostenible y socialmente aceptado del agua. Nuestro análisis está orientado a la obtención, mediante el proceso analítico jerárquico (AHP), de la valoración social de los criterios de gestión del agua en el Guadalquivir, analizando para ello la legitimidad de la ampliación del embalse de la Breña (Córdoba), además de la evaluación de otras posibles medidas de gestión del agua. Los resultados sugieren que el AHP constituye una herramienta adecuada para la implementación de la DMA, así como un complemento útil del análisis coste-eficacia. PALABRAS CLAVE:Directiva Marco del Agua, gestión hídrica, método de Jerarquías Analíticas, multicriterio. SUMMARY:This work aims to contribute to the implementation of the WFD with regard to the selection of the measures for a sustainable and socially accepted water management. A multicriteria decision support exercise is applied to the Guadalquivir River Basin in order to test the applicability of the Analytic Hierarchy Process in the new WFD context. A survey was carried out in the context of a future enlargement of La Breña reservoir (Córdoba). This analysis aims to obtain the public's weight of the criteria in water management, in order to assess the legitimacy of the reservoir enlargement, as well as other management measures. Results suggest that the AHP is an adequate tool for the WFD purposes and a useful complement for the cost-effectiveness analysis.

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