Blue Plan Zaragoza Workshop
Agenda point 7
Released | 07/12/2007 |
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4th Conference of the Water Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European Countries 10 and 11 December 2007, Bled, Slovenia.
Presentation of the Zaragoza regional workshop
(March 2007)
« WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, PROGRESS AND POLICIES
»
In the Mediterranean rim countries, water resources are limited and
unevenly distributed in both space and time - Southern rim countries are
endowed with only 13% of total resources. Twenty million Mediterranean
people, particularly in the South and East, are deprived of access to
drinking water.
Within a context of worsening shortage in parts of the region and in view
of the uncertainties brought about by climate change, there is an absolute
need to adapt water management policies, to better manage the different
water uses and to ensure more optimal and effective use of resources, if
present and future needs of populations and development are to be satisfied.
It is also likely that, in certain countries, an increase in supply is
needed to be secured through better water resources management (increase in
exploitable potential and anti-pollution measures) or through unconventional
production of water (desalination, reuse.).
Following the adoption of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable
Development in November 2005, the Blue Plan was tasked by the rim countries
and the European Union with organising a 3rd regional workshop on Water
Demand Management in the Mediterranean. Organised jointly by the Blue
Plan and its regional partners in the field of water, with the support of
Expo Zaragoza 2008 and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza,
this workshop took place in Zaragoza from the 19th to the 21st of March
2007. It brought together over a hundred participants from fifteen
Mediterranean countries, representatives of national institutions, of
academia, of the private sector and of associations. Moreover, it benefited
from active contributions by international organisations and financial
institutions.
The regional workshop was based on the presentation of national reports
carried out in volunteer countries, regional studies and papers. The local
and national studies aimed to document concrete examples of good practices
and to measure the progress actually made over the last years in terms of
water demand management in the main sectors of use, factoring natural water
needs for the ecosystems into policies and factoring water demand management
into water and cooperation policies. During the debates, the participants
thus evoked ways of optimising the various water uses for agriculture,
cities and industry, while taking into account the water needs for the
ecosystems.
The presentations, as well as the discussions having followed them, made it
possible to highlight the reality of the progress made since the Fiuggi
workshop - organised in 2002 - in matter of taking into account water demand
management in the water policies and certain sectoral policies.
At the regional level, the Mediterranean rim countries, thus,
obtained a common strategy for sustainable development, the Mediterranean
Strategy for Sustainable Development, retaining water like priority
field of intervention and attempting to promote integrated water resource
and water demand management. This framework strategy aims at inspiring the
National Strategies for Sustainable Development as well as sectoral
strategies. Its implementation thus constitutes a real challenge for the
region and for the development's actors playing a part in the
Mediterranean.
At the national level, many countries had recourse to the various
technical, regulations, tax, contractual tools at their disposal to progress
in the field of water demand management. The relevance and efficiency of
the economic tools, still insufficiently used though playing a key role
in matter of aligning the policies with water demand management
requirements, were particularly underscored. For the EU Member States, it
has emerged that the Water Framework Directive has had a particularly
decisive effect on accelerating the adoption of water demand management in
the water policies. This Directive thus proves to contribute to the
development of some new « know-how » which could be inspiring to EU
neighbouring countries.
At the local level, the concern of better implying the water
actors, in particular the users - that those concern the agricultural
world or the urban area - was often reaffirmed and at the same time
innovative and positive experiments were committed.
The exchanges confirmed these evolutions, but also showed the need for
permanently having reliable, comparable and regularly updated data to inform
and light the decision makers. They, also, underlined the interest to
better articulate the problems related to the water resources management
to the global environmental problems, and in particular the climate
change.
Secondly, the workshop has reaffirmed the importance which it is advisable
to attach as regards water demand management for agricultural and industrial
sectors, with the drinking water supply and the safeguarding of the
ecosystems. The association of the users of the domestic networks and the
irrigated areas with the decisions with regard to them springs like an
essential element of success of the initiatives in favour of water demand
management. It is to say the importance which sticks to the public awareness
and to education, by stressing that this is the public and non-public
actors' responsibility. But this association - even responsibilisation - of
non-public actors calls an effort renewed as regards research, sharing good
practices so that the technical routes most powerful permanently required
then are adopted.
Thirdly, the workshop has shown, as is demonstrated by the concept of «
virtual water », that new approaches could be taken into account to clarify
the choices. But the workshop also underlined the eminent part which the
national authorities play in the strategies and fields of intervention of
the development's actors. Indeed, as long as the States will not post a
strong priority for water demand management, the development's actors will
not be able to support the projects or operations relating to it.
The recommendations proposed by the participants at the end of the regional
workshop were adopted by the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable
Development in May 2007. Intended to the political decision makers so much
their role as regards promotion of water demand management remains
essential, these recommendations underline the need to include water
demand management in the national priority strategies, to promote its
implementation and to coordinate its implementation, follow-up and
evaluation in the various sectoral policies, especially in the fields of
agriculture, energy, tourism, environment and land development.
Recommendations of the Zaragoza regional workshop
(19-21 March 2007)
« WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, PROGRESS AND POLICIES
»
Considering Recommendation 26 of the Action Plan adopted at the
Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development,
Committed to the implementation of the Barcelona Convention and the
objectives of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development,
Being of the opinion that the European Union Framework Directive on Water
contains know-how in several fields which the EU neighbours might wish to
share,
Considering that Water Demand Management is a resource and that it is an
integral part of integrated water resources management,
Recalling that water demand in the Mediterranean is expected to increase by
50 km3/year by 2025 to reach 330 km3/year, and that
the various losses due to transport, leaking and the various uses could
exceed 120 km3/year,
The participants to the 3rd Regional Workshop on Water and Sustainable
Development in the Mediterranean, convened at Zaragoza, 19-21 March 2007,
recommend to the national political authorities of the Mediterranean
countries to:
- include, in accordance with the MSSD orientations, Water Demand
Management, in the national priority strategies, to promote its
implementation, on the one hand by setting annually on the basis of
regional objectives, national objectives of efficiency and on the other -
in order to achieve them - by mobilizing, with a concern for social equity,
the various technical instruments and tools, but also those regulatory,
normative, tariff, fiscal, contractual or market tools and instruments
available to them; further, to coordinate its implementation, follow-up and
evaluation in the various sectoral policies, especially in the fields of
agriculture, energy, tourism, environment and land development,
- see to it that the problems connected with Water Demand Management are
properly integrated within the global environmental problems, such as
climate change, and biodiversity and ecosystem conservation,
- promote mobilization and responsibilization, at the various relevant
territorial scales, connected with either the rural or the urban
environment, of the various stakeholders concerned with Water Demand
Management, public, academic, private or association-related by taking into
consideration the particular role of women in this field; further to invite
the partners, public - especially donors - and private to contribute to the
resulting activities, operations and investments,
- take all necessary measures to raise the awareness of the public in
terms of Water Demand Management - especially through environmental
education activities, mainly by informing the public on the challenges
involved and by identifying, implementing and making use of the relevant
good practices, especially concerning the maintenance of water distribution
systems, individual consumption of drinking water, rational use in
agriculture as a function of the geographical context, and the protection
of ecosystems,
- assess, every two years, progress accomplished in Water Demand
Management and therefore reinforce the inclusion of Water Demand Management
in the national information systems on water; further to document the
various relevant indicators, mainly those adopted by the MSSD,
- reinforce the regional scientific and institutional cooperation to promote Water Demand Management and contribute to setting up a Mediterranean Water Observatory which would, on a continuous basis, compile data, information and good practices useful to Mediterranean stakeholders and decision makers.
Moreover, it is expected of the Blue Plan, in conjunction with its partners to:
- make a report, every two years, on progress accomplished in the
Mediterranean in the field of Water Demand Management
- contribute to establishing a compendium of good practices in the field
of Water Demand Management
- organize in 2012 the fourth regional workshop in Water Demand Management.
Done at Zaragoza, on 21 March 2007