The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a new indicator assessment examining the use of freshwater resources across Europe.
The EEA indicator assessment Use of freshwater resources shows that while water is generally abundant in Europe, water scarcity and droughts continue to affect some regions, especially those that are densely populated and have high demands for water from agriculture and tourism during the summer.
The water exploitation index plus (WEI+) of European River Basin Districts is the percentage of total freshwater used compared to the renewable freshwater resources available.
WEI+ is a relatively straightforward indicator of the pressure or stress on freshwater resources. A WEI+ above 20 % implies that a water resource is under stress, while one of over 40 % indicates severe stress and clearly unsustainable resource use.
The EEA indicator shows that around 20 river basin districts, mainly in the Mediterranean, face structural water stress issues with a WEI greater than 20 %. These include Cyprus, Malta, Crete, the Balearic Islands and Sicily. The situation is even worse in summer. The average WEI for the summers 2002-2012 were 81 % and 55 % for Cyprus and Segura, Spain respectively which suggests severe water stress and clearly unsustainable resource use.
20% of total population in Mediterranean region live under permanent water stress conditions
However the Agency is warning that water stress, increasingly, occurs in other parts of Europe. The main drivers are growing urban populations and higher living standards coupled with reduced water availability due to pollution and drought. Many large cities have developed wide networks for transporting water, often over distances of more than 100-200 km to be able to respond to the demand for water.
According to the assessment, around 20 % of the total population of the Mediterranean region now live under permanent water stress conditions. More than half (53 %) of the Mediterranean population is effected by water stress during the summer.
Other key findings include:
- During winter, approximately 30 million inhabitants live under water stress conditions, while the figure for summer is around 70 million. This corresponds to 6 % and 14 % of the total population of Europe respectively.
- Agriculture accounts for 36 % of total water use on an annual scale. In summer, this increases to about 60 %. Agriculture in the Mediterranean region alone accounts for almost 75 % of total water used for agriculture in Europe.
- Public water supply is second to agriculture, accounting for 32 % of total water use.
The service sector, including businesses dealing with tourism, has become one of the main pressures on renewable water resources, accounting for 11 % of total annual water use. Small Mediterranean islands in particular are under severe water stress conditions due to receiving 10-15 times more tourists than they have local inhabitants.
The Agency says that compared with many regions of the world that face serious water shortages, water scarcity in Europe is still easier to manage. In general, water is relatively abundant, with only 5 % of renewable freshwater resources abstracted each year. However, water availability and populations are unevenly distributed.
Around 20 river basin districts, primarily in the Mediterranean and Mediterranean islands including Cyprus, Malta, Crete, the Balearic Islands and Sicily, are faced with water stress. The highest multi-annual summer average water exploitation index for the period 2002-2012, is estimated for Cyprus (81 %) followed by Segura in Spain (55 %). The situation is worse in summer when average precipitation is very low and water demand for agriculture and tourism is high. This makes water resource management in these river basins particularly challenging.
The WEI+ is part of a set of water indicators published by several international organisations such as UNEP, OECD, EUROSTAT and the Mediterranean Blue Plan.
There are no specific quantitative targets directly related to this indicator. However, the Water Framework Directive requires Member States to promote sustainable use of water resources based on long-term protection of available water resources and ensure a balance between abstraction and recharge of groundwater, with the aim of achieving good groundwater status by 2015.
Click here to access the EEA indicator assessment Use of freshwater resources
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