Agricultural Water Use across Europe; EEA assessments Robert Collins Water Group EEA

Water Use in Agriculture ● 2009 EEA Report ● SoE-WISE Reporting ● Water Accounts

Water Stress has reached a critical level across much of Europe Caused by a combination of scarcity and drought Scarcity; Overexploitation of water resources Drought; ‘natural’ phenomenon.

WS&D - Impacts Depletion of water resources Drying out of soil and wetlands Poorer water quality Impacts on aquatic ecosystems Over-pumping of coastal aquifers – saline intrusion Economic impacts Water Scarcity and Drought obviously results in a depletion of freshwater resources as reflected by declines in groundwater, lake and reservoir levels, reduced river flows but also the drying out of wetlands and soils. Photo shows a reservoir in Cyprus – October 2008.

Four key abstracting sectors….. Energy Production (cooling) – 44% of total water abstraction across Europe Agriculture – 24% Public Water Supply – 21% Industry – 11% ‘Consumption’ is critical – how water much is returned to a waterbody after use? Agriculture = c.30%, Energy production = 99% 4 key abstraction sectors with % of total abstraction as shown. However, consumptive water use is very important. Taking this into account means that, environmentally, the impact of the large volume of water abstracted for energy production is not so critical since >99% is returned, albeit at higher temperature. In contrast, only 30% of water abstracted for agriculture is returned. For the public water supply about 70% is returned. For industry we don’t have good figures and it depends very much on management of water within each industrial plant.

Agricultural Water Demand peaks in summer when natural availability is at a minimum Source; Jucar RBD – article 5 WFD reporting In addition to its high consumptive use, agricultural water demand peaks over the summer months when the availability of water is at a natural low, as illustrated here by agricultural water demand and rainfall patterns, over the year, in the Jucar river basin, Spain.

Irrigation; up to 80% of total water abstraction in the South Source; Wriedt et al. 2008

Climate Change will exacerbate the problem Increase in the frequency and severity of drought Maximum No. of consecutive dry days; Sillmann and Roeckner, 2008

Sustainable demand-management approach is required to managing Europe’s water resources Focus on conserving water and using it more efficiently Account for the need for healthy freshwater ecosystems Less water use also means lower energy consumption

How can sustainable water management be implemented across Europe ? Agriculture ‘On-farm’ measures supported by CAP funds Advisory/Educational services are critical Effective water pricing structure is needed Illegal abstraction needs to be tackled Use of treated wastewater for irrigation Raising consumer awareness e.g. through Water Footprint

‘On-farm’ measures supported by CAP funds Drought resistant crops, those that do not have a peak water requirement summer Improved irrigation efficiency (drip, spray) Daily water balance – crop requirements Deficit Irrigation Application of wastewater to agricultural land

‘New’ SoE-WISE Reporting Initiative on Water Quantity Availability and Abstraction

WQ Reporting – SoE-WISE DG ENV: WFD, EU Communication on WS&D EEA Enhance production of reliable in-depth SOER assessments Strengthen the current indicators (WEI, CSI018) Support the development of WS&D indicators Support evaluation of policy e.g. water pricing/CAP subsidy SEEAW – Water Accounts EUROSTAT Enhance regional disaggregation in the JQ IWA - Streamline Establishing a stable data flow on Water Availability, Abstraction & Use with spatial (RBD, SU) and temporal (month) disaggregation under WISE

The WQ Reporting Tool

Seasonality in Agricultural and Industrial water use in SK RBS

Water Exploitation Index Annual abstraction as a % of the long-term Resource Potential to develop on a Seasonal basis

Water Exploitation Index (WEI) indicates extreme stress Increasing stress

SEEAW: first level of detail (Broad-brush) The water sub-system (SEEAW) is a conceptual framework for the organization of physical and economic information related to water, consistent to those of the SEEA Philippe Crouzet; head of ‘Land’ group, EEA

Water Accounts - SEEAW River basin scale water accounts Stocks, flows, abstractions, returns, transfers of water All sectors including agriculture Monthly basis Identify water stress Provides framework for economic analysis

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