Management of the Ebro River Basin: Past, Present and Future

The Ebro River Basin (85,500 km² in NE Spain) is characterised by a marked spatial heterogeneity of its geology, topography, climatology and land use. Many reservoirs (138, total water storage capacity of 6,837 hm³) and canals were constructed during this century for agricultural irrigation, electricity production and domestic use. Now, irrigation is allowed in 778,284 ha. There are also 40 aquaculture systems producing 35% of the total Spanish trout production. The mouth of the Ebro River (a 320 km² delta area) is very productive for agriculture and fisheries. Industrial activities are localised in the upper NW and central parts of the Basin, causing low water quality in the fluvial system. Salinisation of land and river water occurs in the central part, because of salt dissolution, run-off from irrigated fields and groundwater abstraction. Present management is under the responsibility of different administrative agencies. A special agency is responsible for water control and distribution. A new management plan has been recently prepared with the major objective of satisfying the water demands, which are estimated as 7,000 hm³ yr⁻¹ (18,200 hm³ yr⁻¹ is the estimated available water). Most of this comes from agriculture for irrigation (6,310 hm³ yr⁻¹), human use (313 hm³ yr⁻¹) and industrial activities (414 hm³ yr⁻¹). Water is also demanded from other basins. A total water demand of 10,771 hm³ yr⁻¹ has been estimated in the Ebro Basin for the year 2015, maintaining similar proportions as before for the three major uses. In the future, saving and recycling water should be incorporated to the basin management as part of an strategy to distribute water as a function of existing and potential uses in the Basin and for promoting and re-adapting land and water uses to the availability of the resources, including inter-annual climatic fluctuations, and to preserve natural habitats.