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Water abstractions

Water scarcity and droughts are an increasing problem in many areas of Europe, at least seasonally. The environment needs water to sustain aquatic ecosystems and ecosystem services. Excess water abstraction affects surface and groundwater, altering the hydrological regime and degrading ecosystems, leading to severe ecological impacts that affect biodiversity and habitats, but also the quality of water and soils (e.g. affecting temperature in water, reducing the dilution capacity for pollutants, or salt-water intrusions).

Total water abstraction decreased by around 7 % between 2002 and 2014[18]. Agriculture and public water supply are the main pressures on renewable water resources. Agriculture accounts for 36 % of total consumptive water annual use. In summer, this increases to about 60 %. The share of agriculture in EU water abstraction (24%) has wide variations: in Southern countries the share is 65% (up to 80%), mostly used for crop irrigation. In the spring of 2014, this sector used 66 % of the total water used in Europe. Around 80 % of total water abstraction for agriculture occurred in the Mediterranean region. The total irrigated area in southern Europe increased by 12 % between 2002 and 2014, but the total harvested agricultural production decreased by 36 % in the same period in this region. In 2013, the total irrigable area in the EU-27 was 18.7 million ha, representing an increase by 13.4 % compared to 2003 (Eurostat 2016[19]). The area actually irrigated in 2013 was 10.2 million ha. The highest shares of irrigable areas at country level are expectedly found in some southern Member States: in Greece and Malta shares of 44.9 % and 38.6 % were registered respectively. Cyprus, Italy and Spain followed with 34.9 %, 33.9 % and 31.1 % respectively.

Water abstractions are a key pressure on many water bodies, in particular during temporary drought phenomena or in water scarcity prone areas. Abstractions are a significant pressure for 7 % of surface water bodies in the second RBMPs with a higher regional importance in southern Europe (e.g. in Spain, Italy and France). In the case of groundwater, abstractions (mainly for agriculture and public water supply) and artificial recharge are the main pressures of groundwater bodies in poor quantitative status.

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  • voet (Jan Hendrik Voet) 26 Feb 2018 16:20:24

    BE-FLA (WV-RV): p.71 §1 “In the case of groundwater, abstractions (mainly for agriculture and public water supply) and artificial recharge are the main pressures of groundwater bodies in poor quantitative status.”

    Artificial recharge is not mentioned before as one of the main pressures, cf. p.52-53

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