7.Conclusions

Water stress can be caused by natural phenomena (drought events), by man-made phenomena (unsustainable water abstraction, deterioration of water quality, lack of access to water) or a combination (climate change). Climate change is manifesting itself with increasing impact. It is expected to cause a major increase of water stress occurrence, affecting an increasing area of the EU and an increasing percentage of its inhabitants annually. Water stress caused by over-abstraction is persistent, but this report presents clear evidence that the efforts made to reduce it show their effect.

Water stress caused by over abstraction is often a local and temporary phenomenon, associated with urban areas, irrigated agriculture or tourist hotspots in the summer months. Such areas tend to represent a high economic value and an associated high sensitivity to water stress. Impacts of over abstraction in such areas can be aggravated by droughts. The impacts are aggravated even more by the continuing trend of concentration of population and economic activities in urban areas.

In order to demonstrate past or future water stress impacts, the evidence needs to be available and presented at sufficient temporal and geographic detail. This level of detail is not always present in the data currently reported by the Member States to the EC and the EEA.

Evidence is growing that water is being used in the EU with increasing efficiency. The data of water consumption versus Net Value Added of the agriculture, energy and industry sectors clearly demonstrate this trend, even though not always consistently in the time span for which data are available (1995-2017) or between the four regions of Europe (East, North, West and South). Care must be taken that this gain does not result in reinforced economic growth (and associated water demands) but instead benefits the environment. One way of securing this is by incorporating environmental flows in River Basin Management Plans and Drought Management Plans. The analysis of sectoral water use and outlooks in this report signals that the environmental flows have not yet been defined well in most of the River Basin Management Plans.

The economic sectors that depend most on water availability are agriculture, electricity production, industry and drinking water supply. These sectors have potential for further water saving in the order of 20 to 40 %. Where demand management alone is not sufficient, alternative water supply methods such as wastewater reuse and desalination may offer perspectives at the local scale. This report has not addressed the costs and benefits of these measures.

Policy responses at EU level which address or touch on water stress form an intricate network. A central position is taken by the Water Framework Directive. Distinct progress is made in its implementation, while additional efforts are needed in monitoring, modelling and in licensing of abstractions.  Intertwined are sectorial policies and the emerging integrative initiatives. Our analysis suggests that ‘anchoring’ water management objectives in sectoral policies is a prerequisite for successful water stress management. The European Green Deal and the upcoming new EU strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change carry great potential to leverage policy integration and increase Europe’s climate preparedness and resilience.

Insufficient quality or coverage of data is a persistent and recurrent issue in water management in general, and also in water stress management. Emerging technological innovations offer promising perspectives for detailed (both in time and space) observations of such issues as snow cover, soil moisture, actual evapotranspiration and illegal abstractions. For data collection that depends on the cooperation of stakeholders (e.g. in the industry) collaboration must be intensified and the lessons learned expanded to other sectors.

In the parts of Europe where water stress problems press for urgent action, the challenge is to avoid continued lock-ins in technical solutions such as water transfers, and instead start off with an analysis that includes the root causes of the problem, using nexus approaches and systemic analysis. Measures readily associated with these approaches are ecosystem approaches and nature-based solutions.