The result of the review of the irrigation provisions that correspond to the hydrological plan of the fourth cycle (2028-2033) is the latest report from the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro. It corroborates the growing and worrying pressure that exists on the water resources of the Ebro basinwhich is seriously overexploited.
Environmentalists warn of the overexploitation of water in the basin Ebroespecially in the areas of Aragón and Lleida, due to the intensive use of this resource mainly in irrigation and intensive livestock farminglike macro farms.
In a recent study, the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro proposes an average reduction of 12% in irrigation provisions for the fourth programming cycle of the Hydrological Plan (2028-2033). As noted in this report, this adjustment is crucial to face theincreasing demand for water in agriculture and livestockwhich represents 92% of the total consumption of the basin, reaching 8,052.94 hm³ annually.
According to cadastral and concession data collated by the conservation organization, the irrigated area in the river basin Ebro It has doubled in 25 years, currently reaching 924,424 hectares, while in 1998 it was 455,381 hectares. In fact, in 2016, more than 90% of water consumption in the hydrographic demarcation of the Ebro It occurred in irrigation.
«The largest areas are concentrated in the tributaries of the left or northern bank of the Ebro and the banks of the river itself, although there are irrigation systems throughout the basin, to the point that the right bank is absolutely exhausted and even some sub-basins overexploited by irrigation«warns Cristina Sánchez, delegate of the organization in Catalonia.
«For years, we have been warning of the increase in the use of water in the basin for irrigation at an unsustainable rate linked to the increase in the surface area to be irrigated and the type of cropsespecially those that require a greater supply of water,” warns Sánchez, referring to crops of corn and alfalfa, among herbaceous crops, and fruit trees such as apple, pear, cherry, plum, peach and apricot trees, compared to almond, olive orchards. vineyard, with lower water requirements. This has occurred particularly “in the most arid regions of the river basin.” Ebro in Aragon and Catalonia,” he adds.
Increase in intensive livestock farming
This is a trend that is reproduced at the national level: in the last decade, the irrigated area has increased from 19.8% to 22.2% of the country’s cultivated area, worsening pressure on water resources.
For this reason, the NGO expresses its deep concern about the change in uses and water availability, which will be exacerbated by the decrease in rainfall in periods of drought “We urge the authorities to advise and support farmers in the adoption of more sustainable practices and in implementing more efficient irrigation technologies, as well as in offering crop alternatives that require less water and reviewing the surface area allocated to those that consume the most water,” claims Cristina Sánchez.
On the other hand, also the intensive livestock farming, mainly pigshas experienced accelerated growth in the basin Ebro in the last 20 years. According to the agricultural censuses of the National Institute of Statistics and the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (IDESCAT), respectively, in Aragon the total number of pig heads has increased by 122% between 2004 and 2024, while in Catalonia (provinces of Lleida and Tarragona ), the increase has been 52% from 1999 to 2020.
Lack of planning in the Ebro basin
Likewise, the environmental organization criticizes the lack of comprehensive planning for the river basin. Ebro with the rest of the policies. «It is essential to align all the policies of each autonomous community with future water availability, especially with regard to agriculture and livestock, infrastructure, urban planning or tourism, if there is not always going to be a confrontation over water as a necessary resource for the economic development, leaving aside biodiversity conservation«Sánchez emphasizes.
An example of this is the Segarra-Garrigues irrigation transformation project (still in development), with a forecast provision of 6,500 cubic meters per hectare and year, on an area of 29,897 ha, and for which it is now a reduction to 4,064 cubic meters per hectare and year is proposed. The rest of the transformation is a matter of support. In this sense, it must be remembered that before the approval of this transformation project, forecast models were already available that indicated a decrease in water availability.
For the NGO delegate in Catalonia, “it is also essential to review the efficiency of irrigation, since, for example, in the case of Segarra-Garrigues, 20% of the water that finally reaches the crops is lost, while “In the case of the rest of the large irrigation canals, the percentage of losses increases significantly, the study pointing out that of every 100 cubic meters only 60 or 70% are used.” In a context of water deficit and Mediterranean climate, it is unacceptable that lose between 30 or 40% of the water intended for irrigation.
For this reason, “it is very important to review the measures of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) applied in the basin of the Ebro, to accompany the adaptation to climate changeimproving in the medium term the type of crops, the efficiency of irrigation to reduce consumption, in the face of a situation that points to a decrease in water availability in the basin,” considers Sánchez.
Finally, the organization also calls on local communities to get involved in the protection of natural resources and biodiversity, essential for ecological balance and the well-being of future generations. According to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, changes in land use, such as agricultural and livestock intensification and increased irrigationare one of the main threats to the natural heritage and biodiversity in Spain.
Likewise, the organization’s study ‘Evolution of common bird populations by habitat in peninsular Spain’, shows a decrease of 2.5% in 20 years of the 109 most common bird species in the Iberian Peninsula.
In agricultural environments there has been a negative trend (-8% in 15 years), possibly attributable to a multitude of factors that, although of different origin, have globally negative consequencessuch as the abandonment of traditional agriculture with the scrubbing of the countryside, the intensification and agricultural typologies, the use of pesticides and the reduction of the livestock herd. This negative trend has been much more intense in herbaceous agricultural environments (-17% in 15 years) than in woody crops that have always been subjected to intense management (-0.4% in 15 years).
It is worrying that in a river that has been proven to suffers overexploitation and in the midst of a climate emergencygenerous concessions continue to be made to extract water, when the ideal would be to carry out comprehensive, careful, efficient and sustainable management of this river resource.