Albeit, not a solution, one of the most obvious ways to help ease the water shortage in times of crisis is it redistribute fresh water from water rich areas in the Northwest of Spain to the parched areas in the Southeast of Spain. Many in Spain feel that if there are areas with surplus water supply there should be no areas in severe shortage, a sharing mentality. As the problem grows worse there is an opposing faction in the Northwest that are afraid of their resources being used hastily and for non-vital practices such as watering golf courses catering to tourists. Beyond this, the monetary costs of transporting such large amounts of water over land are very high and would raise the price of water. The city of Barcelona already ran out of water once in 2008 and they begged for water to be transferred from rivers such as Ebro. Their plea fell on deaf ears to the north and they were forced to import millions of liters of water from France (BBC 2008). This has caused a north versus south mentality in the country and started what some call ‘water wars’.
A possible solution to the problem can be seen in the desalination of ocean waters. The process consists of filtering and evaporating ocean water until there is no salt remaining, essentially transforming it back to fresh water. This process is very energy intensive and involves significant emissions of greenhouse gases (Reuters 2007). Thus, we have a catch 22. While desalination is capable of providing enough clean drinking water to the area, it also produces a large amount of the gases that have caused the climate change that is responsible for the lack of water in the first place. Objectively weighing the pros and cons of desalination is not easy to do, on one hand you have an immediate and severe problem that needs to solved and on the other you have many potentially harmful effects that you may create by using this method. Another factor that must be taken into consideration is the large monetary price of building and operating such desalination plants. They are extremely expensive to operate and areas not on the immediate coast would have to have salt water transported over land to their plants. The high monetary cost coupled with the environmental costs make desalination a less than ideal solution to Spain’s problems. Without many other immediate options Spain has developed a network of desalination plants. There was a frantic expansion of desalination efforts during the 2005-2007 period. Since then the expansion has noticeably slowed (Global Water Intel 2008). Spain’s agriculture and environment minister blasted the previous administration in a speech for promoting large scale desalination efforts due to the fact that the 17 new plants are operating at only 16% of capacity principally because production costs deter demand (Global Water Intel 2012). It is clear that desalination is not the long term solution to Spain’s growing water shortage problem.
Increasing efficiency in Spain’s agricultural sector is also of high priority. The European Union is threatening to stop funding to the Spanish government until it takes on the fundamental issues in the way water is delivered and priced (Global Water Intel 2012). Water is extremely cheap for crop growers due to government subsidies. Spain’s farmers enjoy one of the lowest prices of water in the EU. This places a very low priority on water efficiency and conservation and an immense strain on irrigation systems. Some feel that water prices need to be raised so that farmers are forced to conserve water and use it responsibly in order to make a living. Raising water prices may have some negative impacts. One problem with raising surface water prices is the increased incentive for farmers to overexploit the groundwater supply. Regulating the extraction of groundwater on farmer’s land is extremely difficult and hard to monitor. The increased productivity to agriculture greatly outweighs the costs of developing and running groundwater extraction so farmers are inclined to do so and to extract as much as possible (Fuentes 2011). This is obviously not what Spain needs and may be counterproductive. Another proposal to stop the loss of freshwater is providing maintenance to underground pipes that transport the water. Many of these pipes are leaking a great deal and account for a large amount of freshwater loss and waste. Spain also grows ‘water hog’ crops such as potatoes and corn. Reduction of these crops or a reevaluation of what crops should be grown and at what times of the year will help lower the burden placed on Spain’s irrigation systems.
Wastewater recycling seems promising as a sustainable solution to reducing the burden on Spain’s freshwater resources. Such recycling efforts produces freshwater that is usable for anything that does not involve human contact or ingestion. The reclaimed water can be used for irrigation, power plants, an industrial coolant and even for fire control (EPA 2010). Agriculture accounts for a large percentage of freshwater needs in Spain. A large scale wastewater recycling program would make a substantial impact on easing the strain on freshwater resources. It is also a more economically effective approach to dealing with the water shortage than desalination. The Environment and Agriculture minister estimates that they can offer wastewater treated to a level sufficient for agricultural purposes at a price one third of desalinated water. Also, regenerating wastewater produces a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions and requires a quarter of the energy of making desalinated water (Global Water Intel 2008). Water reclamation still involves a large monetary commitment, but at the moment it seems to be the only foreseeable solution to the water shortage and should be able to provide all the water needed for agriculture as long as it is processed to sufficiently safe levels. These facts make it a much more desirable and sustainable option than desalination plants.
Spain’s water crisis will not be easily solved and there will be no one solution. It is going to take a dual effort from Spain’s government and the general population. The government needs to implement policies that encourage the conservation of freshwater, regulate the price of the water and improve the methods of delivery. This may cause financial strain to the country, but it is necessary for the future sustainability of its population and agriculture. At the moment, wastewater recycling seems to be the most viable and sustainable method to reduce the strain on the country’s freshwater supply and provide the agricultural sector with sufficient water for their crops. The people of Spain have to make a conscious effort to reduce their personal use of freshwater not only for monetary reasons, but also for the good of the entire population. Accountability needs to be preached in schools and beyond. Externalities to potential solutions also have to be taken into account. Spain cannot blindly implement policies that may be detrimental to the environment or people in the future. Climate and environmental conditions are only going to become less favorable so Spain needs to work quickly in relieving the water shortage and lowering its consumption to sustainable levels or continue to deal with its water woes in even more extreme levels.
Works Cited
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MacInnis, Laura. June 19, 2007. “Desalination no answer to water crisis:
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http://www.globalwaterintel.com/archive/13/4/general/eu-spotlight-turns-spains-water-policy.html (access date: September 19,2012).
EPA. 2012. “Water Recycling and Reuse”. http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling/ (access date:
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Fuentes, A. (2011), “Policies Towards a Sustainable Use of Water in Spain”, OECD Economics
Department Working Papers, No. 840, OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/fulltext/5kgj3l0ggczt.pdf?expires=1348453357&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=7DE7E982B6A192EDF38AE443B50B1A0B (access date: September 19,2012).