Tomorrow, March 22, World Water Day is celebrated, coinciding with a succession of storms that have returned the water to the rivers, but have not resolved the structural crisis of water in Spain.
The images of full swamps and reverded fields, although it is very positive, can generate a false sensation of relief, but climate change is affecting water cycles, with periods of longer and more intense droughts and increasingly torrential and irregular rains. Although the net amount of water we receive annually is not varying substantially, its availability is increasingly lower due to these alterations of water cycles and poor management.
On this World Water Day, SEO/BirdLife warns that Spain still does not manage water based on its real availability, maintaining an unsustainable demand, with 80 % of the water destined for agricultural irrigation (above 71 % that is dedicated to irrigation worldwide), many in areas of water stress. Meanwhile, aquifers remain overexploited, wetlands continue to deteriorate, especially those of the Mediterranean basin, and public policies continue to bet on macroprojects that do not solve the problem and aggravate the water crisis and, therefore, the environmental. Projects to which recent data centers are joined, which require huge amounts of water to cool its facilities and that are often located in areas with great water stress where the human supply and the conservation of natural resources have to prevail.
A new water approach
Spain is starting the drafting of the fourth cycle of hydrological planning (2028-2033), but it cannot be planned only for the next four years. It is essential to look beyond at least 2050, and make strategic decisions to avoid an irreversible water crisis.
The competent public administrations in the management of water resources have to act responsibly taking into account that current forecasts point out that Spain can lose between 3 % and 7 % of their water resources available in the hydrographic basins before 2040.
SEO/BirdLife insists that, according to the latest models generated, it is estimated that 75 % of the Spanish territory would be at risk of desertification in the short and medium term. If we add to this that forest, provoked and natural fires are expected to be 50 % more frequent and intense for the end of the century, accelerating the loss of fertile soil and reducing the natural capacity of water retention, the desertification panorama could be even worse, which reinforces the need to rethink the way in which the management of natural resources is planned, if possible, if possible, if possible, if possible, if possible, if possible. Supply for the population in the future.
«We cannot continue planning water with the mentality of the twentieth century. The climatic reality of Spain in 2050 will surely be different, and we need policies that anticipate that scenario. If we continue managing water as until now, the water collapse will be a very likely scenario, ”says Juan Carlos Atienza, responsible for the incidence unit for the green transition of SEO/Birdlife.
Water for people and ecosystems
SEO/BirdLife defends a water transition that guarantees water for long -term people and ecosystems. To do this, structural and sustainable measures are needed, not short -term solutions. It is necessary to adapt the demand for water to climatic reality, redefining the water concessions policy and adapt them to real availability, applying a water price policy that encourages savings and guarantees efficient use. You cannot continue promoting irrigation crops in areas of high water stress and you have to start promoting crops adapted to the Mediterranean climate, betting on sustainable agriculture, with lower water consumption and greater water efficiency.
SEO/BirdLife is committed to advancing in the recovery of the natural functionality of rivers and wetlands, ensuring the availability of sufficient ecological flows for biodiversity and the conservation of aquatic ecosystems.
Therefore, the environmental NGO urges public administrations to act responsibly; to meet the objectives and deadlines marked in the Water Framework Directive, and improve governance and transparency in water management; to manage aquifers as strategic water reserves, avoiding their overexploitation; since they assume clear commitments in this regard including those of adaptation to climate change, with measurable and publicly verifiable objectives.
Wetlands, key ecosystems
Wetlands play a fundamental role in the regulation of the water cycle, but in Spain their state of conservation is alarming. As Seo/BirdLife pointed out in the last report presented two months ago: wetlands before an uncertain future. Analysis on the state of conservation of wet areas in Spain, 76% of community interest habitats linked to wetlands are in poor condition and 36 of the 67 species of birds associated with wetlands have suffered a significant population decrease.
«Well preserved wetlands are the best natural insurance against desertification and drought, but in Spain we are destroying them at an alarming rate. The restoration of wetlands should be a priority in hydrological and environmental planning if we really want to guarantee water in the future, both for people and for the conservation of biodiversity associated with these spaces, ”explains Kiko Álvarez, responsible for the Unit of Spaces and Species of SEO/BirdLife.
Every time it rains in abundance, the same message is repeated: “The drought is over.” But the water dropped in March does not change the fact that the Spanish water model is unsustainable, in addition to the Mediterranean climate is characterized by the natural alternation of dry and humid cycles.
Therefore, Spain must decide whether to continue waiting for the next storm or if, once and for all, you anticipate the periods of weather drought and bet on a water management model that guarantees its long -term sustainability.
«We play the future. If we continue acting as until now, Spain will be a country without enough water in a few decades. It is time to make brave decisions and integrate the water crisis into all public policies. We cannot allow ourselves to waste more time, ”concludes Atienza.
#SEOBirdLife #claims #fair #sustainable #water #transition
