Themes
Water in the Mediterranean: an overview
Throughout the planet, a number of issues affecting the availability and state of water resources cause growing concern: The population is increasing. Development is increasing. Pollution is increasing. However, water supply is not.
Water demand by people, agriculture and industry heavily pressurizes the limited water supply of the planet, and at the same time ecosystems that are also dependent on water.
The Mediterranean region shares these problems with the rest of the world: on the one hand, according to UN estimations, the total population of the region should rise from 446 million inhabitants in 2000 to approximately 508 - 579 million in 2025; on the other hand, increasing urbanisation, especially in coastal areas, and rising living standards, in particular in the developing countries, will further increase the demand for water in an already fragile region with unequally distributed water resources.
In the Mediterranean, fresh water resources are overall scarce, irregular and unevenly distributed between North, East and South as well as between the various users: people, agriculture, industry and the environment.
- Water scarcity is one of the most important characteristics of the Mediterranean region. In particular in the South precipitation tends to be very low, droughts being a frequent phenomenon varying in severity, duration and scale and some especially arid regions bearing high risks of desertification.
- Average water demand is rising. Agriculture, especially, is an intensive water user, irrigation representing up to 80% of the total water consumption of available fresh water resources, and at the same time a vital economic sector in developing countries.
- Intensive groundwater abstraction is leading to depletion of non renewable water sources (i.e. karstic watersheds) and to seawater intrusion in coastal areas.
- Extreme precipitation events such as heavy rainfalls are also an important issue in the region, representing the main risk of natural disaster in the Northern parts, causing floods, land- and mudslides.
- Water quality is moreover highly affected by pollution due to intense human activities (industry, tourism, etc.) and concentration of population in urban and coastal areas.
- Human health issues due to insufficient water treatment and sanitation facilities, in particular in urban areas and in developing countries, represent another important cause of concern.
Trends and implications
Regional trends such as population growth, urbanisation, climate variability (long-term droughts) exert a constantly increasing pressure on water resources in the Mediterranean.
Given the unbalanced distribution of fresh water and population as well as socio-economic and political factors, there is reasonable concern for poverty increase in the South leading to social instability and people migration towards “water-rich” regions but also for conflicts over shared water resources.
Another serious implication of the unsustainable use of water resources in the Mediterranean is the loss of wetlands and aquatic ecosystems playing a decisive role in the conservation of biodiversity.
Therefore, there is a recognised need for integrated management of water resources promoting a holistic approach that balances the competing demands for water in various sectors and assists countries in achieving the efficient, equitable and environmentally sustainable use of their water resources.
