1. Working session 2: Preparing RBMP Presentation:
Basin Hidrologic Planning in Spain
CIS WG B Workshop on River Basin Management Plans
Miguel A. García Vera
Hydrologic Planning Office
Ebro River Basin District
Bonn, 8th may 2006

2. INDEX 1.- Objetives of hydrologic planning in Spain
2.- When will we have to make the river basin management plans?
3.- Who will have to make the river basin management plans?
4.- Contents of basin river basin management plans
5.- How are we going to make the river basin management plans?
6.- Conclusions

3. 1.- Objetives of river basin planning in Spain
The objectives of river basin planning in Spain are defined by the water law passed in 2003.
The river basin planning objetives are:
+ To achieve the good ecological status and to protect water bodies and associated ecosystems (Water Framework Directive)
+ To meet the water demands
in balance and in harmony with regional and sectorial development.
All this:
+ Increasing the availability of the resource
+ Protecting its quality
+ Economizing the water use
+ Rationalizing the water uses in harmony with environmental and natural resources.

4. 2.- When will we have to make the River Basin Management Plans?
River Basin Management plans will have to be approved in December 2009, according to the timetable defined in the Water Framework Directive.
First idea:
In this period ( )
is very important:
to have clear ideas and
to be very efficient

5. 3.- Who will have to make the River Basin Management plans?
In Spain, the Water Law considers that river basins are indivisible units with regard to water management (basin unity principle).
Every river basin is managed by a basin authority. So, There are
11 basin authorities in the Iberian Peninsula +
2 of the islands (Baleary and Canary)
Some Ebro basin basic data
+ surface: km2
+ average rainfall: 650 mm
+ annual run-off: million m3
+ inhabitants:
+ irrigated land: has
The Ebro Basin

6. Every basin authority will have a Competent Authorities Committee and a Basin Water Council.
The Basin Water Council
+ will be the responsible of giving approval to the river basin management plan
+ will be composed of around 110 representatives from (percentages are approximated):
* Administration:
National (14 %)
Regional (34 %)
Local (3 %)
* Water users (urban water supply, farmers, hydropower, recreational,…) (34 %)
* Non gubernamental organizations (ecologist, universities, trade-union, economical, agrarian,… ) (13 %)

7. 4.- Contents of River Basin Management Plans
1.- Basin characterization
1.1.- Surface water bodies: location, boundaries, ecorregions, types and reference conditions [2006]
1.1.a.- Justification of artificials and modified water bodies
1.2.- Groundwater bodies: location and boundaries [2005]
1.3.- Inventory of water resources (suface water and groundwater ). Rainfall-river flow models (Simpa, Balan,..) [2006]
ZONA VADOSA
Escorrentía
superficial
hipodérmica
subterránea
Percolación
Infiltración
Lluvia eficaz
ETR
Precipitación
SUELO
ACUÍFERO
NIVEL

8. Calibration
Results

9. 1.4.- Characteristics of water quality [2006]
Surface water:
Improving and filling data bases
mayority elements
minority elements
temporal trends
contaminated areas
ecological quality
Groundwater:
Isotopes
Puntual and difusse contaminated areas

10. 2.- Water uses
2.1.- Present uses [2006]
Urban water supply
Ecological water uses
Irrigation:
Definition of the efficient water demand
Inventory of Irrigation surface
Cattle
Industrial uses
Hydropower and energetic uses
Leisure activities
2.2.- Future water uses
2.3.- Pressure and impacts analysis [2005]
2.4.- Priority criteria between different water uses

11. 2.5.- Water allocation for present and future demands and for preservation of nature (minimum flows included).
Operation management models (SIMGES, SIMV): with
Natural river flows
Infrastructures (river, reservoirs and channels)
Demands
Priority criteria
With these models we can know asses whether we meet the demands.

12. 3.- Protected areas: delimitation and maps [2006]
4.- Water Control Networks (¿?)
4.1.- Physico-chemical quality
4.2.- Ecological quality
4.3.- River flow
4.4.- Groundwater level
4.5.- Rainfall and temperature
5.- Environmental objectives. Including time limits, exceptions and extensions
5.1.- Surface water
5.2.- Groundwater
5.3.- Protected areas
6.- Economic analysis (including exceptions & cost recovery principle)

13. 7.- Program of measures
7.1.- Water protections (urban water supply included)
7.2.- Measures to apply the cost recovery principle
7.3.- Controls in the water uses
7.4.- Waste water
7.5.- Effluent to groundwater
7.6.- Priority substances
7.7.- Accidental contamination
7.8.- Complementary measures
7.9.- Marine waters
Guidelines about recharge and aquifers protection
Basic rules for water efficiency in irrigation
Hydropower assessment criteria
Flood prevention criteria
Basic Infrastructures required

14. 8.- Summary of sub-basin plans and National Hydrologic Plan
9.- Public information proccess: summary, results and changes in the plan due to participation
10.- Competent authorities
11.- Contact address to get more information about the plan

15. 5.- How are we going to make the basin management plans?

16. Ebro river basin management: Strategy
- Our priority: to select the measures for every water body according to a participatory proccess within every sub-basin
- Pilot experience: The Huerva river management Plan (around 1000 km2). The most important issue is the consultation with the stakeholders.
- Metodology:
+ Preparing the proccess:
* Technical reporting: Dossier written for everybody understanding. With questions and answers, pictures and photographies. The index is:
- Objectives of the report: to make the hydrologic plan in the river
- River diagnosis
- Problems and answers: measures
- Approach to the economical assessment of the measures
* Other information: areal images, photos, technical studies
* We put the information in the web site

22. + Public participation proccess: We have celebrated sectorial meeting and we have collected the proposals from the participants.
* Urban planners (done)
* Environmentalist and civil society (done)
* Users (done)
* Mayors (done)
* Administration (next Thursday)

23. + Revision of every technical report,
+ Economical, environmental and social assesment of the meassures
+ Analysis cost-efficient when necessary
+ Definition of highly modified water bodies
+ Final report that wil be presented in the Ebro Water Council and included in the Ebro river basin management plan.

24. 6.- Conclusions
It is very important to have clear ideas and to be very efficient in the proccess to make the river basin management plan in december 2009.
The public participation process is very important and essential in order to ensure the success of the plan implementation, it is expensive and takes a lot of time.
The actual planning process is a very complex one. At basin level it is very important to make a diagnosis of every river and afterwards to begin a participatory process to define the measures to: a) achieve the good ecological status; and b) meet water demands.
In this proccess we should be able to collect all the measures proposed by all the stakehokders. We should also be able to assest the real social acceptance of these measures and increase the awareness about the obligation to achieve the good ecological status of our water bodies.
The items of the water planning could be:
+ Preparing the proccess
+ Public participacion
+ Assesment of social, economical and environmental feasibility of the meassures.