DOCSLIB.ORG

Communication Concerning Andorra

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Communication Concerning Andorra I WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION A46/INF.DOC./7 30 April 1993 ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE FORTY-SIXTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Provisional agenda item 11 COMMUNICATION CONCERNING ANDORRA The Director-General has the honour to bring to the attention of the Health Assembly the text of a communication concerning Andorra dated 31 March 1993, together with background information, which was received on 15 April 1993. A46/INF.DOC./7 page 2 ANNEX AND ORRA Andorra la Vella, 31 March 1993 Cap db Govern Réf. 307-SA-93 Dr. Hiroshi NAKAJIMA Director-General World Health Organization CH-1211 GENEVA 27 -SWITZERLAND- On behalf of the government and people of Andorra, I have the honour to inform you that Andorra wishes to apply for admission to membership of the World Health Organization in accordance with Article 6 of the WHO Constitution. Last 14 March 1993, by "Referendum", Andorra proclaimed his sovereignty setting up a "Constitutional state of right". The text was approved by 74,2 per cent of votes. Please find enclosed for information a brief background paper on the status of Andorra. I have the honour to request you to place this application on the agenda for consideration by the Forty-fifth World Health Assembly which opens on 4 May 1992. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration. Oscar RIBAS REIG Head of Government BACKGROUND Andorra is a landlocked country completely located within the Pyrenees range. The 63 Kms. of border with Spain (South, South-East and West) and the 56 Km. with France (North, North-West and East) have remained practically unchanged since the Middle Ages. It is a mountain state and the microstate with the highest altitudes in the world. The highest peaks (over 2.900 mts.) are located mainly in the N. and N.W. of the territory. The valleys are mainly situated in the Mediterranean side of the Pyrenees. They form the "Andorran Y" following the three main rivers (Valira d'Orient and Valira del Nord merging at Escaldes-Engordany to create the Gran Valira, which then merges the Segre already in Spanish territory)• There are Mediterranean influences in the clime of most of the country. Rain is relatively limited (770шш-1100шш per year), if compared with other areas of the Pyrenees, and are present specially in spring and summer. There is snow in winter (welcomed in the sky resorts through the country). Human presence can be traced as far as the Neolithic era in the lower parts of the valleys where the soil of glacial origin could be cultivated. Almost all historians accept that Andorra was invaded by the Arabs and the territory was conquered again by the Francs in the 8 th century who, then, became sovereigns of Andorra. In the consecration act of the cathedral of Seu d'Urgell (9th century) the Andorran parishes are listed. More evidence can be found in documents from the 11th and 12th century. In 1278 an arbitral ruling, known as "pariatge1 " is signed between the Bishop of Urgell, Pere d Urg, and the Count of Foix, Roger Bernât III in order to prevent the continuous fighting between the Church of Urgell and the County of Foix. The ••pariatge" established the undivided ownership of Andorra of both of them. Four years after, Pope Martin IV, confirmed those arrangements through a papal bull. In 1288 a second "pariatge" was signed to specify some of the agreements of the.first text. By the end of the 13th century the Church of Urgell and the Maison de Foix owned the "Merum Imperium" over Andorra. This peculiar institutional organization stayed for centuries, far away from the evolution of the rest of Europe. The sovereignty of the Bishop of Urge11 over Andorra, which began in the 13th century, still exists today with the same characteristics and sovereign. The rights belonging to the Maison de Foix remained with no changes until Henri II de Foix became King of France. Then the rights over Andorra were incorporated to the crown. After the evolution of the institutional regimes in France, the rights over Andorra belong presently to the President of the French Republic, those rights are exercised as a personal title as a direct successor of the Maison de Foix and not as the head of state of France. The signature of the "pariatges" in 1278 and 1288 ratified the Co-Principality as the basis of the Andorran juridical status. There is no historic event between the 13th century and the end of the 18th century which could endanger the institutional configuration of Andorra. Centuries passed with no changes in the agricultural and pastoral economy of the country and with no interest in the events that far away from its mountains designed new power structures and new life styles. The French Revolution challenged the institutional equilibrium,• However, in 1806, Napoleon I, following suggestions from the Andorran people, reestablished the Co-Principality through imperial decree. Although Andorrans recovered their institutional basis, several internal and external events created conflicts during the 19th century. The 20th century was welcomed with a will for change although no one could imagine the great evolution of the country specially from the 50's onwards. Important changes appeared already after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the Second World War (1939- 45). However a dramatic economic development of the country started in 1958 with the consequent population growth. In 1964 the national census recorded 12199 inhabitants, presently there are 61874 inhabitants. The population is distributed in seven parishes (the territorial and administrative division of the country) with different densities and with a market economy based in commerce and tourism.. The economic and cultural evolution , the population growth and the need for modern administrative A46/INF.DOC./7 page 2 Annex structures, public institutions and justice administration urged Andorra to create a system -a Constitution- to both protect it as a country and to give it life expectancy in modern Europe. In 1993 through its first written Constitution Andorra decides its new way of functioning: a democratic and social state, which maintains its structure of Co- Principality, now as a Parliamentary Co-Principality. This new reality was possible through a trilateral negotiation with participation of: the Members of the Andorran Parliament (Conseil General) and the representatives of both co-princes: the Episcopal and the French between 1990 and 1992. The Constitution is then the result of an agreement over solid convictions. The Constitution tries to modernize the country, to consolidate the basic structures of Andorra and to reach the maximum effectively and equilibrium between the three powers. The legislative functions are in the hands of the "Conseil General" (Parliament) , which was created in 1419 with the name of "Conseil de la Terra" (Board of the Land). With the Constitution it will completely represent the Andorran people. The executive functions will be in hands of the Government, first created in 1981 by decree, which will direct the domestic and external affairs and the internal administration• Finally the Administration of Justice which will be reformed after the Constitution both to improve its performance and to make it more similar to the rules of international jurisprudence. Its organization will be unified and will be independent. On February 2nd, 1993, the "Conseil General" unanimously approved the Constitutional text. On March 14th a Referendum took place. The Constitution was also approved by the 74•2 per cent of votes. From the enactment of the Constitution the sovereignty of Andorra has passed from the Co-Princes to the people of Andorra. Andorra becomes a democratic state based on the separation of powers and ensures its international recognition. The Co-Princes are 一 together and "indivisible"- the Head of State and they have equal powers as derived from the Constitution. The Andorrans have recognized their political rights and all the citizens their civilian, social and labour rights• .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Catalan Farmhouses and Farming Families in Catalonia Between the 16Th and Early 20Th Centuries
    CATALAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, 9: 71-84 (2016) Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona DOI: 10.2436/20.1000.01.122 · ISSN: 2013-407X http://revistes.iec.cat/chr/ Catalan farmhouses and farming families in Catalonia between the 16th and early 20th centuries Assumpta Serra* Institució Catalana d’Estudis Agraris Received 20 May 2015 · Accepted 15 July 2015 Abstract The masia (translated here as the Catalan farmhouse), or the building where people reside on a farming estate, is the outcome of the landscape where it is located. It underwent major changes from its origins in the 11th century until the 16th century, when its evolu- tion peaked and a prototype was reached for Catalonia as a whole. For this reason, in the subsequent centuries the model did not change, but building elements were added to it in order to adapt the home to the times. Catalan farmhouses are a historical testimony, and their changes and enlargements always reflect the needs of their inhabitants and the technological possibilities of the period. Keywords: evolution, architectural models, farmhouses, rural economy, farming families Introduction techniques or the spread of these techniques became availa- ble to more and more people. Larger or more numerous Some years ago, historians stopped studying only the ma- rooms characterised the evolution of a structure that was jor political events or personalities to instead focus on as- originally called a hospici, domus, casa or alberg, although pects that were closer to the majority of the people, because we are not certain of the reason behind such a variety of this is where the interest lies: in learning about our ances- words.
    [Show full text]
  • Fuerzas Hidroeléctricas Del Segre, the Gomis Family, Which Founded and Owned the Company, Had Been Involved in the Electricity Business for a Long Time
    SHORT ARTICLEST he Image Lourdes Martínez Collection: Fuerzas Prado PHOTOGRAPHY Hidroeléctricas Spain del Segre The cataloguing and simultaneous digitisation should be made of the pictures of workers at of images generated by the Fuerzas Hidro- great heights on the dam wall, transmission eléctricas del Segre company is a project car- towers or bridges), to the difficulties posed by ried out in the National Archive of Catalonia the weather. In this regard, the collection in collaboration with the Fundación Endesa, includes some photographs of the minor resulting in the collection becoming easy to flooding events of the river in March 1947, consult not only in the actual Archive, but also December 1949, May 1950, and May 1956 through the Internet. This was a long-che- (two or three photos per weather phenome- rished ambition of the ANC, since the Fuerzas non), and also of the winds in the winter of Hidroeléctricas del Segre is one of the most 1949-1950. The great flood of June 1953 of comprehensive collections in terms of being the river Segre is particularly well documented, able to monitor the construction of a hydro- with 63 photographs, which convincingly con- electric complex. I am referring, more spe- vey how the river severely punished the area in cifically, to the hydroelectric station of Oliana1 . general and more particularly building work on Indeed, of the 2,723 units catalogued in the the dam. collection, approximately 1,500 pertain to the aforementioned project. These pictures also allow us to study the engi- neering techniques and tools used in the 1940s The construction of the Oliana dam was un- and 1950s, particularly the machinery used, dertaken in 1946.
    [Show full text]
  • CONTRAT De RIVIERE Du SEGRE En CERDAGNE
    COMMUNAUTE DE COMMUNES « PYRENEES - CERDAGNE » CONTRAT de RIVIERE du SEGRE en CERDAGNE Dossier définitif Projet cofinancé par l'Union Européenne. Fonds InterReg IIIA Mai 2007 COMMUNAUTE DE COMMUNES « PYRENEES - CERDAGNE » CONTRAT de RIVIERE du SEGRE en CERDAGNE Dossier définitif Projet cofinancé par l'Union Européenne. Fonds InterReg IIIA S.I.E.E. Mai 2007 Société d'Ingénierie pour l'Eau et l'Environnement COMMUNAUTE DE COMMUNES « PYRENEES - CERDAGNE » SOMMAIRE PARTIE A – SYNTHESE DE L’ETAT DES LIEUX ET DU DIAGNOSTIC I. PRESENTATION DU TERRITOIRE ET DES ACTEURS ......................................... 7 I.1. DONNEES DE CADRAGE ................................................................................................. 7 I.2. PERIMETRE DU CONTRAT DE RIVIERE ET ACTEURS......................................................... 8 I.2.1. Le périmètre......................................................................................................... 8 I.2.2. Dynamique du contrat et acteurs......................................................................... 9 I.3. COOPERATION TRANSFRONTALIERE ............................................................................ 12 II. RESSOURCES EN EAU ............................................................................................ 14 II.1. RESSOURCES EN EAU ET PRESSIONS............................................................................. 14 II.1.1. Eaux superficielles............................................................................................. 14 II.1.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Simulating Long-Term Past Changes in the Balance Between Water Demand
    Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 11, 12315–12364, 2014 www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/11/12315/2014/ doi:10.5194/hessd-11-12315-2014 © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in HESS if available. Simulating long-term past changes in the balance between water demand and availability and assessing their main drivers at the river basin management scale J. Fabre1, D. Ruelland1, A. Dezetter2, and B. Grouillet1 1CNRS, HydroSciences Laboratory, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France 2IRD, HydroSciences Laboratory, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France Received: 30 September 2014 – Accepted: 15 October 2014 – Published: 4 November 2014 Correspondence to: J. Fabre ([email protected]) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 12315 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the balance between water demand and availabil- ity and its spatial and temporal variability from 1971 to 2009 in the Herault (2500 km2, France) and the Ebro (85 000 km2, Spain) catchments. Natural streamflow was evalu- 5 ated using a conceptual hydrological model. The regulation of river flow was accounted for through a widely applicable demand-driven reservoir management model applied to the largest dam in the Herault basin and to 11 major dams in the Ebro basin. Urban wa- ter demand was estimated from population and monthly unit water consumption data.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Pyrenees Cup
    1st NEWSLETTER 2019 PYRENEES CUP 1st & 2nd June Parc Olímpic de Segre st 1 June ECA Cup nd 2 June ICF Ranking 1st Newsletter 2019 Canoe Wildwater Pyrenees Cup Contents st 1 NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Invitation to 2019 Canoe Slalom Pyrenees Cup 3 Provisional Competition Program 4 Pyrenees Cup rules: entries, participation fee, etc.. 5 Organizing Committee 6 Parc Olímpic del Segre venue 7 How to get to La Seu d’Urgell 8 Contacts 9 Thanks to Institutions and Sponsors 10 1st Newsletter 2019 Canoe Wildwater Pyrenees Cup Invitation to 2019 Canoe Slalom Pyrenees Cup Dear President, Dear Secretary General, The Organizing Committee of the 1st Pyrenees Wildwater Cup cordially invites you to attend the canoe wildwater competitions that are going to be hold in June of 2019. The competition races are sport orientated, to be useful for wildwater training and improvement of technical performance prior to the World Championships that the city is going to host in late September. The individual inscription gives wider opportunities to participate and combine sport schedule. The Pyrenees Cup Organizing Committee welcomes you to join our 2019 events. 1st Newsletter 2019 Canoe Wildwater Pyrenees Cup Provisional program tnd Wednesday, May 22 Nominal entries deadline (through SDP) Tuesday, May 8h – 10h Free training 28th 18h30 – 20h30 Wednesday, May 8h – 10h Free training 29th 18h30 – 20h30 Thursday, May 8h30 – 10h30 Free training th 18h – 20h Free training 30 16h – 18h30 Entries confirmation & participation fee payment 8h30 – 10h30 Free training 17h
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing Past Terrace Fields in the Pyrenees
    Reconstructing past terrace fields in the Pyrenees: Insights into land management and settlement from the Bronze Age to the Early Modern era at Vilalta (1650 masl, Cerdagne, France) Christine Rendu1, Olivier Passarrius2, Carine Calastrenc1, Ramon Julia3, Murie Llubes1, Pauline Illes2, Pierre Campmajo1, Clara Jodry1, Denis Crabol4, Elisabeth Bille1, Marc Conesa5, Delphine Bousquet1,Ve´ronique Lallemand6 1CNRS and University of Toulouse, France, 2Archaeology Center of the Pyre´ne´es-Orientales Department and University of Perpignan, France, 3Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain, 4Archaeological and Historical Research Group of Cerdagne (GRAHC), Bourg-Madame, France, 5University of Montpellier, France, 6Regional Archaeology Department of Languedoc-Roussillon, French Ministry of Culture The building of a solar power station at The´mis, at 1650 masl on the south-facing slope of the Carlit massif in the eastern Pyrenees, led to an archaeological evaluation from April-June 2009. This evaluation covered a surface of 10 ha that included a medieval village as well as the surrounding agricultural land in terraces. Non-destructive archaeological methods were used for the village. A detailed study of the 6 ha of terraces began with a fieldwalking survey, mapping every visible feature, followed by systematic trial trenches. Fifty-five trenches, 11 in the village and 44 in the fields, were opened. The stratigraphies were then compared with a series of 22 radiocarbon dates and eight relative dates provided by ceramic typologies. This combination of surface and buried evidence supported our preliminary hypothesis about the dynamics of the slope. The results suggest the existence of agrarian features beginning in the Bronze Age and reveal that the field patterns were frequently transformed, both in the Medieval and Early Modern periods.
    [Show full text]
  • The “Prediflood” Database of Historical Floods in Catalonia (NE Iberian
    Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 4807–4823, 2014 www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/4807/2014/ doi:10.5194/hess-18-4807-2014 © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. The “Prediflood” database of historical floods in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula) AD 1035–2013, and its potential applications in flood analysis M. Barriendos1,2, J. L. Ruiz-Bellet3, J. Tuset4, J. Mazón5, J. C. Balasch3, D. Pino5,6, and J. L. Ayala7 1Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences, Barcelona, Spain 2Department of Modern History, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 3Department of Environment and Soil Sciences, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain 4RIUS Fluvial Dynamics Research Group, Forest Science Centre of Catalonia, Solsona, Spain 5Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain 6Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC-UPC), Barcelona, Spain 7Arxiu del Comú, Departament de Cultura i Turisme, Comú d’Andorra, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Correspondence to: M. Barriendos ([email protected]) Received: 7 May 2014 – Published in Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss.: 11 July 2014 Revised: 10 October 2014 – Accepted: 18 October 2014 – Published: 4 December 2014 Abstract. “Prediflood” is a database of historical floods that 2100, models estimate a 15 % decrease in total rain depth occurred in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), between the but, at the same time, a 15–30 % increase in the number of 11th century and the 21st century. More than 2700 flood days with heavy precipitation (Barrera and Cunillera, 2011). cases are catalogued, and more than 1100 flood events. This In central Europe, torrential precipitation will also increase database contains information acquired under modern histo- in the near future, although this cannot be assured to cause riographical criteria and it is, therefore, suitable for use in an increase in river flows, due to the short length of the data multidisciplinary flood analysis techniques, such as meteo- series (IPCC, 2014; Kovats and Valentini, 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Transferring Water from the Rhone to Barcelona
    España no sera rica mientras sus rios desemboquen en el mar Julio Alvarez Mendizabal, Spanish premier, 1835 (Spain won't be rich as long as its rivers flow into the sea) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Transferring water from the Rhone to Barcelona is an exciting project which stirs our imagination twice : the aqueduct Languedoc - Roussillon - Catalogne (LRC) extends our vision of progress, where Mediterranean hydraulics have long had prominent standing, from the Roman bridge on the Gard to the Suez canal ; and it conveys a new solidarity between neighbouring Nations, on what is most essential to life. Yet, reality is as usual less poetic, and such a costly project has to be justified economically as well as environmentally. And of course, before going ahead, one must check whether there are any cheaper and more modest solutions to Barcelona's water scarcity. Clearly the Rhone is a huge Alpine river, and is by far the largest flowing into the Mediterranean ; but there's also a lot of water flowing down from the much closer Pyrenees into the Ebro ; the western part of Catalonia is part of the Ebro basin, and its river Segre, born in France, borders the basin of the Llobregat flowing directly from the mountains down to Barcelona. Why can't the regional water supply of Barcelona area, Aigües Ter Llobregat (ATLL) purchase some water to its nearest neighbour, the Ebro hydrographic Confederation ? The rumour has spread that all Ebro’s water was already allotted, and that it would be impossible to take back the water of the oldest State irrigation project in Spain ; worse, "Zaragoza"1 and even "Madrid" would particularly refuse to give a drop of the precious liquid to the head city of Catalonia.
    [Show full text]
  • Geography in Catalonia
    Belgeo Revue belge de géographie 1 | 2004 Special issue : 30th International Geographical Congress Geography in Catalonia Antoni Luna and Enric Mendizàbal Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/10319 DOI: 10.4000/belgeo.10319 ISSN: 2294-9135 Publisher: National Committee of Geography of Belgium, Société Royale Belge de Géographie Printed version Date of publication: 31 March 2004 Number of pages: 17-34 ISSN: 1377-2368 Electronic reference Antoni Luna and Enric Mendizàbal, « Geography in Catalonia », Belgeo [Online], 1 | 2004, Online since 17 October 2013, connection on 10 December 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/ 10319 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/belgeo.10319 This text was automatically generated on 10 December 2020. Belgeo est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Geography in Catalonia 1 Geography in Catalonia Antoni Luna and Enric Mendizàbal A history of Catalan geography 1 The chronological evolution of geography in Catalonia is obviously strongly related to the historical events that took place in Catalonia and in Spain during the same period. Moreover, we should say that the development of Catalan geography follows the same ups and downs of the Catalan national movement over the last century, sometimes becoming the centre of the nationalist discourse with geographical issues such as territorial organization or regional knowledge. Therefore, we can distinguish three extensive historical periods in this evolution. In the first place, the origins and the first developments that took place between 1875 and 1939. This historical period starts with the monarchic restoration after the First Spanish Republic, and ends with the Spanish Civil war that concluded the Second Republican period.
    [Show full text]
  • 10 April LA SEU 11 April PONTS
    1st NEWSLETTER 10 April LA SEU 11 April PONTS 1st Newsletter 2020 SEGRE Canoe Slalom CUP Contents 1st NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Invitation to 2020 Segre Canoe Slalom Cup 3 Organizing Committee 4 Provisional Competition Program 5 Segre Canoe Slalom Cup rules: entries, participation fee, etc.. 6 Ponts White Water Stadium 7 How to get to Ponts 8 Parc Olímpic del Segre venue 9 How to get to La Seu d’Urgell 10 Contacts 11 1st Newsletter 2020 SEGRE Canoe Slalom CUP Invitation to 2020 Segre Canoe Slalom Cup The Organizing Committee of the 8th Segre Canoe Slalom Cup cordially invites you to attend the canoe slalom competitions that will be held in April 2020. The Segre river runs from la Seu d’Urgell to Ponts at 70 km distance, coming from the Pyrenean mountain range that border France and Spain. Both sites have a long canoe slalom tradition. La Seu d’Urgell was a former Olympic venue for Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games on the Parc Olimpic del Segre. Ponts have an active canoe club since more than thirty years and in 2012 has improved the slalom site. The travelling distances between the competition sites are 50 minutes. There is flexibility to combine athletes schedules and accommodation preferences. The competition races are sport orientated, to be useful for slalom training and improvement of technical performance. The individual inscription gives wider opportunities to participate and combine sport schedule. The competitions are included in the ICF calendar. In three days of intense activity there are offered two technical competitions of the highest level.
    [Show full text]
  • Andorra's Autonomy
    ANDORRA'S AUTONOMY A NDORRA, being a political anomaly, challenges the political geographer to uncover the geographic roots of so exotic a plant. It has more than once been suggested that Andorra's political separation from both its powerful neighbors, France and Spain, derives from isolation. Andorra occupies the tributary valleys of the Segre which are known collectively as the Valira (Fig. 1). These lead into each other via water-level routes and thence continue without barrier into the Segre, which occupies the broadest transverse valley of the central Pyrenees. Therefore it can hardly be thought of as more isolated than other similar Pyrenean valleys, such as the Vall d'Aran-Spanish territory although cut off from the rest of the country by a range of savage mountains, in which the few lofty passes are snow-blocked for half the year. Isolation thus proves a weak environmental reed to lean upon. One may perhaps abandon geography and ascribe the politi- cal separatism to the rugged individualism of the Andorran citizens. Again an undependable support, for the Andorrans comprise but one section of the Catalan people which occupies all the central and eastern Pyrenees as well as their foothills and the plains beyond. Surely the five or six thousand inhabitants of the Valira valleys cannot be assumed to have a greater love for independence than other mountaineers, particularly moun- taineers of their own race and language, occupying almost iden- tically similar valleys. Mutual jealousy between France and Spain is more rarely cited as the explanation of the Andorran political status. Ample proof of such jealousy can be deduced over centuries of history.
    [Show full text]
  • A Decision Support Approach for Better Water Resources Management
    Building the Mediterranean future together WATER Resources and natural environment ANTICIPATING WATER STRESS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN a decision support approach for better water resources management Over the past thirty years, climatic variations as well as water-use changes induced a net decrease in streamflows over the Mediterranean basin. The question arises on climate and human activities evolution trends and on their impacts on water resources. An integrated water resources modeling framework was developed to describe current pressures at the catchment scale, to evaluate changes in water allocation and to apprehend the capacity of adaptation strategies to reduce water tensions. Applied over the Ebro catchment (Spain), the approach enabled identifying areas most vulnerable to climatic and/or anthropogenic pressures. PLAN BLEU NOTES Need for a more resilient Questions relating to water resources management management of water are pressing in these particularly vulnerable regions. #26 resources and their use MAY 2013 Increasing pressures on water resources due to climatic Assessing the capacity of water and anthropogenic changes as well as increasing resources to meet current and competition among users are recognized as world future water demands water stakes. Global scale studies have identified the Developing practical tools at the catchment Mediterranean basin as one of the most vulnerable scale regions to “water crisis” due to limited water resources, Methods assessing whether future water needs will still significant climate change, and increasing anthropogenic be satisfied are necessary to advise decision makers pressures. Water withdrawals in Mediterranean on which adaptation strategies are best suited to fulfill catchments in Spain, and on the southern and eastern water demands and to prevent water tensions.
    [Show full text]