Water and Sustainability: Water Basin Functionality INDEX index pág. 5 Authors and Acknowledgements pág. 7 Introductions pág. 7 · Preamble by Elena Espinosa, Minister of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs pág. 9 · Introduction by Luis M. Jimenez Herrero, Executive Director of the Observatory of Sustainability in Spain (OSE) pág. 11 1. INTRODUCTION pág. 17 2. OBJECT, METHOD AND STRUCTURE pág. 23 3. REFERENCE FRAMEWORK pág. 25 3.1. Geographical context pág. 28 3.2. Physical and biotic context pág. 35 3.3. Socio-economic context pág. 39 3.4. Institutional context pág. 41 4. WATER IN SPAIN: INDICATOR-BASED ASSESSMENT pág. 43 Introduction pág. 47 4.1. Surface water indicators 4.1.1. Determining factor indicators Precipitation Temperature Evapotranspiration Population density Population concentration Tourist overnight stays Cultivated surface area Intensive crop surface area Number of heads of livestock Gross Value Added (GVA) of industry GVA of most polluting industry 4.1.2. Pressure indicators Water distributed by user group Demand Provisions in urban supply Fertilizer consumption Pesticide consumption 4.1.3. State indicators Humidity index Precipitation anomaly Temperature anomaly Evapotranspiration anomaly Ground humidity Natural water resources Snow reserves Storage in reservoirs Volumes of flow in rivers Exploitation and consumption indices Water productivity in agriculture Hydrological state index State of surface masses Organic pollution Percentage of waste water purification stations 4.1.4. Impact indicators Aridity surface 4.1.5. Response indicators Investment in measures offered Investment in purification Number of dams Storage capacity Total volume of reused water Volume of desalinated water Efficiency of urban water use Average price of water Surface of the territory included in the Natura 2000 network WATER AND SUSTAINABILITY: WATER BASIN FUNCTIONALITY 3 INDEX pág. 88 4.2. Groundwater indicators 4.2.1. Pressure indicators Exploitation index Extraction index Excess nitrogen in agricultural soil Urban surface percentage Industrial surface percentage Towns without drainage Mining percentage Percentage of sports and recreational areas Airports Areas covered or semi-covered with water Percentage of waste dumps Polluted soils Mining waste tailing ponds Sea intrusion Induced artificial recharge Direct dumping into groundwater Vulnerability of aquifers to nitrate pollution 4.2.2. Impact indicators Water table Overexploitation declaration Salinisation Effects on associated ecosystems Nitrates in aquifers Pesticides Ammonium Metals Perchloroethylene (PCE) Trichloroethylene (TCE) State of groundwater masses pág. 97 5. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE USE AND MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES pág. 99 Introduction pág. 99 5.1. Preliminary evaluation according to indicators 5.1.1. General connection between development and use and degradation of the resource 5.1.2. Water and agriculture 5.1.3. Water and industry 5.1.4. Urban uses of water 5.1.5. Water and tourism 5.1.6. Energy uses of water 5.1.7. Prices and costs of water services 5.1.8. Elements for a more sustainable management of water 5.1.9. The challenge of groundwater pág. 113 5.2. Climate change and the water cycle 5.2.1. River basin cycle 5.2.2. Climate change the regime of basins pág. 116 5.3. A general approach to a complete evaluation of basins 5.3.1. The flows in water basin 5.3.2. Water stress indices 5.3.3. Use intensity indicator 5.3.4. Metabolic alterations and sustainability 5.3.5. The key to water quality 5.3.6. Heavily modified water bodies and risk levels pág. 123 5.4. Water synergies and energy. Analysis of the life cycle as regards energy pág. 127 6. FUNCTIONALITY OF WATER BASINS AS A KEY ELEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY: SOME PILOT CASES pág. 129 Introduction pág. 130 6.1. Segura water basin pág. 154 6.2. Mediterranean water basins in environments of large urban consumption: the case of the region of Barcelona pág. 165 6.3. Jalón water basin pág. 187 7. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS pág. 189 7.1. With regard to the methodology pág. 191 7.2. Regarding the findings of the assessments pág. 195 ANNEXES pág. 197 List of initials, acronyms and abbreviations pág. 198 Bibliographical references pág. 201 List of figures, tables and maps 4 WATER AND SUSTAINABILITY: WATER BASIN FUNCTIONALITY AUTHORS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS authors and acknowledgements OSS TEAM Management: Jiménez Herrero, Luis M. Advisor: Jiménez Beltrán, Domingo General coordination: Guaita García, Noelia Landa Ortiz de Zárate, Lucía Specialist team: Ochoa, Juan Carlos López Hernández, Isidro Lerille, Agnés Administration: Checa Rodríguez, Almudena Chicharro González, Ana AUTHORS-COLLABORATORS Chapter 1 Araujo, Joaquín Chapter 2 OSS specialist team Chapter 3 del Moral Ituarte, Leandro (New Water Culture Foundation. Human Geography Department, Seville University) del Villar, Alberto López, Isidro (OSS) Maestu, Josefina (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Prat, Narcís (Department of Ecology, Barcelona University) Ruiz, Juan Manuel (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Chapter 4 Consulnima López Vera, Fernando (Autonomous University of Madrid) Chapter 5 Coordination: Ruiz, Juan Manuel (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Maestu, Josefina (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Cabello, Daniel (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Estevan, Antonio (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Heras, Francisco (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Hernandez Mora, Nuria Iglesias, Raquel (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Lacalle, Abel (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) López Vera, Fernando (Autonomous University of Madrid) Lorenzo, Domingo (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Maestu, Josefina (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Omedas, Manuel (Office of Hydrologic Planning, Ebro Hydrographic Confederation) Ortega, Enrique (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) Sánchez Tamartit, Sici Sintes, María (Centre of Hydrographic Studies) WATER AND SUSTAINABILITY: WATER BASIN FUNCTIONALITY 5 AUTHORS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chapter 6 SEGURA BASIN Coordination: Martínez, Julia (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Esteve, Miguel Angel (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Carreño, Francisca (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Miñano, Jesús (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Robledano, Francisco (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Suárez, María Luisa (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) Vidal-Abarca, Mª Rosario (Sustainability Observatory for the Region of Murcia) INTERNAL BASINS OF CATALONIA Coordination: Prat, Narcís (Department of Ecology, Barcelona University) Borràs, Gabriel (Catalan Water Agency) de Torres, Mariona (Catalan Water Agency) Galbiati, Lorenzo (Catalan Water Agency) Manzanera, Marta (Catalan Water Agency) Molist, Jordi (Catalan Water Agency) Munné, Antoni (Catalan Water Agency) Niñerola, Josep Maria (Catalan Water Agency) Niso, Muntsa (Catalan Water Agency) JALÓN BASIN Coordination: Maestu, Josefina (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Cabello, Daniel (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Domingo, Lorenzo (Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs) Omedas, Manuel (Office of Hydrologic Planning, Ebro Hydrographic Confederation) Chapter 7 OSS team López Vera, Fernando (Autonomous University of Madrid) Text revision: González, Santiago (Polytechnic University of Madrid) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS · Sub-Directorate General for the Planning and Sustainable Use of Water. Spanish Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs · European Topic Centre Land Use and Spatial Information (ETC-LUSI) · Segura Hydrographic Confederation SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Gómez Sal, Antonio (President) Azqueta Oyarzun, Diego Bono Martínez, Emerit Bosque Sendra, Joaquín Cendrero Uceda, Antonio Díaz Pineda, Francisco Fernández-Galiano, Eladio González Alonso, Santiago Justel Eusebio, Ana Naredo Pérez, José Manuel Pérez Arriaga, Ignacio Prat i Fornells, Narcís Riechmann Fernández, Jorge 6 WATER AND SUSTAINABILITY: WATER BASIN FUNCTIONALITY PROLOGUE prologue Elena Espinosa SPANISH MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, RURAL AND MARINE AFFAIRS The Sustainability Observatory has presented us with its third report on a specific theme. A report dedicated to Water, at a particularly relevant time as it coincides with an event of great scientific, social and political relevance: the 2008 International Exposition. In Spain there is a long tradition in producing and collecting data on water, which means we are one of the countries with the most information gathered on its water-related assets. The challenge is to convert this into relevant infor- mation of direct use in participative decision-making. Being aware of this shortcoming, but especially of the opportunity represented by such a large amount of informa- tion, the Ministry recently took an important step forward in creating the Integrated Water Information System (SIA), whose aim is to bring together all information related to water, both internal and external, within a single centrali- sed system, using tools to analyse information from a geographical perspective. We are now developing and refining this system with a view to making it the benchmark data resource on water in Spain. At the same time, the Observatory of Sustainability in Spain (OSS) has recovered and ordered a large part of the avai- lable information, appraising it and analysing any deficiencies