Ten years of the Water Framework Directive in Spain

Willaarts, Bárbara; Ballesteros, Mario; Hernández-Mora, Nuria

doi:10.1201/b16591-10

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Water Pricing in Spain: Following the Footsteps of Somber Climate Change Projections

Calatrava

García-Valiñas

Garrido

et al. 2015

Water Pricing Experiences and Innovations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As many other countries, Spain has to cope with, and be prepared to address, major water challenges: climate change, growing demand, and water pollution. Climate change projections indicate signifi cant reductions of runoff and water recharge and more unstable climate regimes. Improving water allocation has become an urgent need. Water demand management is now one of the most relevant issues in the Spanish water policy agenda. The chapter discusses the controversial topic of water pricing, focusing on Spain. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) foresees that, in order to ensure an effi cient and sustainable management of water resources, prices should be fi xed according to the principle of cost recovery. But our analysis of all policy-relevant drivers and likely scenarios suggests that reforming water-pricing policies is likely to face numerous obstacles and to raise strong opposition from most water users. And yet, pricing policies in Spain are already innovative and fully implemented for all sectors. So the way to reform is already paved, and we expect that more progress will be made in next WFD planning period (2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020).

show abstract

Water Pricing in Spain: Following the Footsteps of Somber Climate Change Projections

Calatrava

García-Valiñas

Garrido

et al. 2015

Water Pricing Experiences and Innovations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Spain

García-Valiñas

2018

Facing the Challenges of Water Governance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since ancient times, water services provision in Spain has been a difficult task to drive. Several pressures have been identified. On the one hand, Spain is the most semi-arid country in the EU (Lopez-Gunn et al. 2012), and droughts and other water scarcity issues frequently affect some regions of the country. Moreover, climate change emerges as a major threat for water management in Spain. An increase of the average temperatures up to +1.9 °C has been predicted for 2040 (CEDEX 2011), jointly with a reduction in rainfall (up to 6%). In some specific areas, such as Canary Islands and the southern basins, significant changes in rainfall patterns are expected (Garrido et al. 2013). Southern basins could experience reductions of up to 13% of surface water runoff and around 15% of aquifers' recharge, while the reductions at Eastern Mediterranean basins would be below 10%. Northern basins will also experience reductions, but their relative profuse resource availability will likely mitigate the impact (Garrido et al. 2013).

show abstract

Review: the environmental status and implications of the nitrate time lag in Europe and North America

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The efficacy of water quality policies aiming to reduce or prevent nitrate contamination of waterbodies may be constrained by the inherent delay or 'time lag' of water and solute transport through unsaturated (soil) and saturated (groundwater) pathways. These delays must be quantified in order to determine realistic deadlines and thresholds, and to design effective best management practices. The objective of this review is to synthesise the current state of research on time lag, in both the European and North American/Canadian environmental and legislative contexts. The durations of time lags have been found to differ according to differing climatic, pedological, landscape and management scenarios, and elucidation of these driving factors on a watershed scale is therefore essential where water quality is impaired or at risk. Finally, acknowledgement and understanding of time lag is increasingly seen at policy level, and incorporated in the development of environmental legislation. However, it is not yet ubiquitously appreciated, and continued outreach and education in scientific, public and policy venues is still required.

show abstract

Ten years of the Water Framework Directive in Spain

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Water Pricing in Spain: Following the Footsteps of Somber Climate Change Projections

Water Pricing in Spain: Following the Footsteps of Somber Climate Change Projections

Spain

Review: the environmental status and implications of the nitrate time lag in Europe and North America

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About