Sustainability of intensive groundwater development: experience in Spain

Abstract

and even affect upcoming human generations. This new dimension, which has economic and sustainability aspects, is not as important for other water resources. Critical flow thresholds have to be considered for groundwater-dependent ecosystems. This is considered from the point of view of water quantity, which is the dominant aspect under arid and semiarid conditions. However, water quality may be as or more important for humans and for nature services, but this needs a separate treatment. The hydrogeological and socioeconomic aspects of aquifer behaviour are presented taking into account the experience drawn from some intensively exploited and economically and socially important aquifers, mostly those in La Mancha, in central Spain, but also other intensively exploited Spanish aquifers. Topdown-down administrative decisions to get a given sustainable have resulted in partial failures, but if action is agreed among stakeholders better outcomes could be achieved. Mixed solutions seem the best approach.

Evaluating integrated water management strategies to inform hydrological drought mitigation

“…However, conjunctive use does not create water but optimises storage use, particularly in catchments with large reservoir storage (Bredehoeft, 2011). Flexible use of surface water and groundwater aligns the timing problem between water demand and availability (Taylor et al, 2013;Cuthbert et al, 2019). It should also be noted that conjunctive use could also alter the river regime (not tested due to model set-up), resulting in adverse impacts on ecohydrology (Rolls et al, 2012).…”

“…Due to the natural delay in groundwater recharge, it D. E. Wendt et al: Evaluating integrated water management strategies may take weeks, months or even years before a precipitation deficit propagates through the hydrological cycle, reducing groundwater storage levels (Tallaksen and Van Lanen, 2004;. This natural delay results in groundwater storage being available for longer compared to surface water, resulting in sustained and complemented water demand during meteorological droughts (Taylor et al, 2013;Cuthbert et al, 2019). Increased groundwater use may also result in aggravated streamflow droughts, which is a deficit in discharge or reservoir storage (Mishra and Singh, 2010;Wada et al, 2013;Wanders and Wada, 2015).…”

“…Given the increasing dependency on groundwater storage during meteorological droughts (Aeschbach-Hertig and Gleeson, 2012;Taylor et al, 2013;Cuthbert et al, 2019), drought policy modelling should include both surface water and groundwater to reflect the additional complexity of different or possibly contrasting groundwater storage availability within or between water management regions. In natural systems, the temporal variation in groundwater storage and the aquifer-dependent delay between precipitation and groundwater storage and baseflow results in contrasting baseflow and groundwater drought characteristics (Peters et al, 2006;Van Lanen et al, 2013;Bloomfield and Marchant, 2013).…”

“…In natural systems, the temporal variation in groundwater storage and the aquifer-dependent delay between precipitation and groundwater storage and baseflow results in contrasting baseflow and groundwater drought characteristics (Peters et al, 2006;Van Lanen et al, 2013;Bloomfield and Marchant, 2013). These contrasting hydrological drought characteristics change when impacted by (un)managed groundwater use (Tijdeman et al, 2018;Wendt et al, 2020), and overall drought resilience reduces when groundwater use exceeds sustainable limits (Custodio, 2002;Custodio et al, 2019). On the other hand, targeted management strategies can also ease pressure on groundwater systems (Klaar et al, 2014;White et al, 2019) and encourage integrated water use aiming to increase drought resilience (Huggins et al, 2018;Scanlon et al, 2016;Jakeman et al, 2016), highlighting their potential within drought policies.…”

Discarded food and resource depletion

“…Although many of these measures were already foreseen in the Spanish Water Law of 1999 and have been ratified by the EU Water Framework, problems like the proliferation of illegal wells have persisted in major Spanish agricultural areas (e.g. Eastern La Mancha aquifer system, Campo de Cartagena, surroundings of the Doñana National Park) 33 . It is key that farmers become aware of these sustainability issues, so that regulations are not interpreted as a punitive instrument but rather as a tool to better manage water resources and to ensure the sustainability of their activity.…”