Agricultural Water Use Agricultural Water Use in in Europe Europe –– An overviewAn overview

Robert CollinsRobert CollinsRobert CollinsRobert CollinsWater GroupWater Group

European Environment AgencyEuropean Environment Agency

Water Scarcity and Drought Water Scarcity and Drought --Environmental ImpactsEnvironmental Impacts

• Depleted freshwater resources lead to a decline in water quality

• Both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems terrestrial ecosystems suffer

• Over pumping coastal aquifers leads to saline intrusion

Water Scarcity and Drought Water Scarcity and Drought --Economic ImpactsEconomic Impacts

• Drought has cost Europe EUR 100 billion over the last 30 years

• Electricity and agricultural production reduced in recent hot summers

• Cost of sourcing new supplies including emergency

Source: Tallaksen L. 2007:

http://www.geo.uio.no/for_skolen/lena-torke.pdf

including emergency measures e.g. Cyprus 2008

• Lack of water of sufficient quality a growing threat to large corporations; https://www.cdproject.net/CDPResults/CDP-2010-Water-Disclosure-Global-Report.pdf

Irrigation; up to 80% of total water abstraction in the South; High consumptive use

Source;JRC 2008

Agricultural Water Demand peaks in summer when natural availability is at a minimum

Source;Jucar RBD –article 5 WFD reporting

Water Exploitation Index (WEI) indicates extreme stress

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Future Challenges; Climate, population and land use Future Challenges; Climate, population and land use changechange

Future Challenges; Climate, population and land use changeFuture Challenges; Climate, population and land use change

Expansion of irrigationin Turkey

EU 25

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Bioenergy from agriculture –increased water demand?

Focus on conserving water and using it more efficiently

Sustainable demand-management approach is required for Europe’s water resources – all sectors

efficiently

Account for the need for healthy freshwater ecosystems

Less water use also means lower energy consumption

Towards a more sustainable use of water Towards a more sustainable use of water by agriculture; onby agriculture; on--farm measuresfarm measures

• Range of measures, supported by advisory services

• Drought resistant crops, those that do not have a peak water requirement summer

• Improved irrigation efficiency (drip, spray)• Improved irrigation efficiency (drip, spray)

• Daily water balance – crop requirements

• Application of treated wastewater to agricultural land

• Deficit Irrigation

• Effective water pricing structure is needed

• Illegal/uncontrolled abstraction needs to be tackled

Towards a more sustainable use of Towards a more sustainable use of water by agriculturewater by agriculture

tackled

• Raising consumer awareness – water footprints

Water Pricing in AgricultureWater Pricing in Agriculture

• WFD requires pricing to incentivise sustainable use, cost recovery of water services to include environmental costs

• Agriculture does not pay full cost for water (OECD and others); typically less than that paid by households and industry. Environmental costs not covered.

• Charging is often based on area irrigated, but needs to be based on volume, requiring metering. Easier to implement volume based charges for large scale irrigation, but more challenging for individual on-farm supplies. Charging to reflect local and regional conditions.

• Pricing to drive more efficient use, but care is needed to avoid the rebound effect

Water Pricing in AgricultureWater Pricing in Agriculture

• There is a socio-economic aspect; Challenge to implement pricing that does not have a substantial impact on farm incomes, but provides incentives to conserve water and recover a larger share of costs than is currently the case; finding the ‘right price’.

• Focus upon cost-effective measures to improve efficiency.

• Agricultural support where farming provides ecosystem services but coordination with CAP is required – pricing incentive should not be masked by subsidies.

• When, where, and by how much does agriculture (and each of the other sectors) need to improve its efficiency of water use. Underpinning this answer is a need to know the environmental requirements for water; ‘environmental flows’.

Thanks for your attentionThanks for your attention