WWF report on drought in the Mediterranean

More dams, desalination plants and boreholes in the Mediterranean will not solve future water shortages caused by increasing droughts due to global climate change

A total rethink of present supply-driven water policies is now urgent, according to a report just issued by the World Wildlife Fund, which covers most Mediterranean countries, although not Malta.

Entitled 'Drought in the Mediterranean: WWF Policy Proposals', the report warns that present approaches are resulting in unsustainable over-exploitation of natural resources and "ultimately do not solve the problem".

With total natural renewable freshwater resources very unevenly distributed between countries, the Mediterranean region possesses three per cent of the world's total, but is home to 50 per cent of the world's "water poor population" (with less than 1,000 cubic metres per capita per year).

WWF puts forward four key messages: First, drought is a natural phenomenon and will appear more frequently. Second, if water is not managed wisely, both in rainy and dry years, drought will become 'chronic' (permanent water scarcity) and its impacts will increase.

Third, key examples of unwise water management are increased irrigation in agriculture due to subsidies in EU countries, and low water efficiency in irrigation in non-EU countries.

Fourth, to avoid drought becoming chronic, governments have to engage in a threefold approach - manage demand, increase efficiency, and apply integrated and sustainable water management.

Increasing water supply is not an option, the WWF emphasises. Human activities, such as over-exploitation of aquifers, loss of soil cover or vegetation due to inadequate land use and flawed policies in energy supply as well as failure to restrict consumption may aggravate effects of drought - which can develop cumulative effects from year to year - depending on rainfall and water demand.

Accelerated desertification is a major threat arising from, and in turn helping cause, droughts.

Whole freshwater ecosystems can be devastated by drought since reduced rainfall leads to lower water levels in rivers, reservoirs and aquifers. During dry spells, this provokes a higher concentration of toxins and pollution in surface water resulting in inferior water quality.

Warming of water bodies is a further consequence, which in turn produces changes in the water layers and thus in the whole ecosystem, gravely affecting the performance of species. These processes and effects are exacerbated by ongoing climate change.

Peak water demand from Mediterranean tourism and agriculture coincide in the summer, with tourists' daily consumption five to 10 times the average use by residents. Increasing golf tourism exacerbates the stress on water resources in mostly already water-scarce Mediterranean tourist areas.

In Spain, for instance, 276 golf courses already exist and 150 new ones are planned, each requiring an average equivalent to the water consumption of 15,000 inhabitants.