He World Water Day It happens every year every March 22 and its main objective is to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of the so -called “Liquid gold”essential for the life of human beings and all the species that inhabit the earth.
With the celebration of this event, it is intended to make known The global water crisis, the changes in the rains and the climate and the problem facing millions of people that do not have access to the supply of drinking water, as well as the urgent measures that must be taken in this regard.
The climatic crisis is exposing the weaknesses of poor water management. If we do nothing different, we face a much more uncertain future and with greater difficulties in guaranteeing the resources with which to supply agriculture and livestock.
But we will also be putting the supply of drinking water for the Spaniards and if nothing changes It will be impossible to ensure the maintenance of healthy and functional ecosystems in the face of the climatic crisis and biodiversity that we are already suffering.
World Water Day: Water crisis in Spain is not fixed with rains
Tomorrow, March 22, with celebrates World Water Day 2025, coinciding with a succession of Borrascas that since the first of this month have returned the water to the reservoirs and the rivers, but have not resolved the structural crisis of water in Spain.
The images of full swamps and reverded fields, although it is very positive, can generate a false feeling of relief, but Climate change is affecting water cycles, with periods of longer and more intense droughts and increasingly torrential and irregular rains.
Although the net amount of water we receive annually is not varying substantially, its availability is increasingly lower due to these alterations of water cycles and poor management.
In this World Water Day, SEO/BirdLife warns that Spain still does not manage water based on its real availabilitymaintaining an unsustainable demand, with a 80 % of the water for agricultural irrigation (above 71 % dedicated to irrigation worldwide)many in areas of water stress.
Meanwhile, aquifers are still overexploited, wetlands continue to deteriorate, especially those of the Mediterranean basin, and public policies continue to bet on macroprojects that do not solve the problem and aggravate the water crisis and, therefore, the environmental.
Projects to which the recent data centers, which require huge amounts of water to cool its facilities and that are often located in areas with great water stress where human supply and the conservation of natural resources have to prevail.
You have to change plans
Spain is starting the writing of the fourth cycle of hydrological planning (2028-2033), but You cannot plan just for the next four years. It is essential Look beyond at least 2050, and make strategic decisions to avoid an irreversible crisis of water.
The competent public administrations in the management of water resources have to act responsibly taking into account that current forecasts indicate that Spain can lose between a 3 % and 7 % of its available water resources in the hydrographic basins before 2040.
The NGO insists that, according to the latest models generated, it is estimated that around 75 % of the Spanish territory It would be at risk of desertification in the short and medium term. If we add that forest, provoked and natural fires are expected to be 50 % more frequent and intense For the end of the century.
This goes to Accelerate the loss of fertile soil and reduce the natural retention capacity of water, so the desertification panorama could even be worsewhich reinforces the need to rethink the way in which the management of natural resources is planned, if the supply for the population in the future is possible to guarantee.
«We cannot continue planning water with the mentality of the twentieth century. The climatic reality of Spain in 2050 will surely be different, and We need policies that anticipate that scenario. If we continue managing water as until now, the water collapse will be a very likely scenario, ”says Juan Carlos Atienza, responsible for the incidence unit for the green transition of the organization.
A sustainable and fair water transition is the only solution
The NGO defends a Water transition qthat guarantees water for long -term people and ecosystems. To do this, structural and sustainable measures are needed, not short -term solutions. Is necessary adapt the demand for water to climate realityredefining the policy of water concessions and adapt them to real availability, applying a water price policy that encourages savings and guarantees efficient use.
You cannot continue promoting irrigation crops in areas of high water stress and you have to start promoting crops adapted to the Mediterranean climate, betting on a Sustainable agriculture, with lower water consumption and greater water efficiency.
The environmental organization is committed to advancing in the Recovery of the natural functionality of rivers and wetlandsensuring the availability of sufficient ecological flows for biodiversity and conservation of aquatic ecosystems.
Therefore, the environmental NGO urges public administrations to act responsibly; that They meet the objectives and deadlines marked in the Water Framework Directive, And improve governance and transparency in water management; to manage the aquifers as strategic water reservesavoiding its overexploitation; since they assume clear commitments in this regard including those of adaptation to climate change, with measurable and publicly verifiable objectives.
Wetlands recovery is a priority
Wetlands play a fundamental role in the regulation of the water cycle, but in Spain Its conservation status is alarming. As Seo/BirdLife pointed out in the last report presented two months ago: Wetlands before an uncertain future. Analysis about the state of conservation of wet areas in Spain, he 76% of community interest habitats linked to wetlands are in poor conservation y 36 of the 67 species of birds associated with wetlands They have suffered a significant population decrease.
«Well preserved wetlands are the best natural insurance against desertification and drought, but in Spain we are destroying them at an alarming rate. Wetlands restoration should be a priority in hydrological and environmental planning If we really want to guarantee water in the future, both for people and for the conservation of biodiversity associated with these spaces, ”explains Kiko Álvarez, responsible for the Unit of Spaces and Species of the NGO.
The water crisis will continue, despite the rains of March
Every time the rain It is abundant, the same message is repeated: “The drought is over”. But the water dropped in March does not change the fact that the Spanish water model is unsustainable, In addition to the Mediterranean climate is characterized by the natural alternation of dry and humid cycles.
Therefore, Spain must decide if you want to continue waiting for the next rains Or yes, once and for all, The meteorological drought periods are anticipated and is committed to a water management model that guarantees its long -term sustainability.
«We play the future. If we keep acting as until now, Spain will be a country without enough water in a few decades. It is time to make brave decisions and integrate the water crisis into all public policies. We cannot allow ourselves to waste more time, ”concludes Atienza.