Spain Water issue

There are serious water shortages in Spain. Water, like other natural resources, tends to be unrelated to political boundaries. Authority over Spain’s water – formally a shared competence – has shifted from the centre to the Autonomous Communities, the equivalent of states or provinces, and to municipal authorities in a number of cases. But the system has come under acute stress in the last decade because of severe water shortages.

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain,” or so the song goes. Well, not anymore. Spain is one of the countries most deeply affected by climate change. Vast areas in the Communities of Murcia, Andalucía and Valencia are slowly but surely becoming desert. There are several reasons for this.

The first, which is quite obvious, is climate change. The average temperature in Spain has increased 2.7 degrees Celsius since 1880, compared with the 1.4 degrees globally recorded for that period. Other estimates include a projection published by the United Nations suggesting that rainfall will fall about 40 per cent by 2070.Another reason for the growing scarcity of water is the irresponsible use of resources in Spain, including the use of more than 80 per cent of water resources for farming. Irrigation-based farming produces higher yields and is very profitable for farmers (who pay discounted rates for water), so it is very widely practiced.

Water issue

The concept of water stress is relatively simple: According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, it applies to situations where there is not enough water for all uses, whether agricultural, industrial or domestic.

Defining thresholds for stress in terms of available water per capita is more complex, however, entailing assumptions about water use and its efficiency.

It has been proposed that when annual per capita renewable freshwater availability is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries begin to experience periodic or regular water stress.

Below 1,000 cubic meters, water scarcity begins to hamper economic development and human health and well-being. Population growth in 2000, the world population was 6. 2 billion.

The UN estimates that by 2050 there will be an additional 3. 5 billion people with most of the growth in developing countries that already suffer water stress. Thus, water demand will increase unless there are corresponding increases in water conservation and recycling of this vital resource.

In building on the data presented here by the UN, the World Bank goes on to explain that access to water for producing food will be one of the main challenges in the decades to come.

Water is the most important thing in the world. In Africa more than 100 people die because of water issue. We need to find a solution.