Shock Plan: Presentation
The reorientation of the water policy in Spain responds to the commitment expressed by the Prime Minister in his investiture speech to act in conformance with the European regulations in this area. This reorientation, which has arisen from the A.G.U.A. Programme (Actions for the Management and Use of Water), is present in both the National Irrigation Plan (PNR) and the National Water Resource Plan (PHN). In this way, the PHN has been modified to introduce a series of actions in the Mediterranean basins in the saving, purification, reuse and desalination of water, establishing simultaneously measures to improve the public control of the use and quality of water, and to ensure the compliance with the European regulations in terms of environmental sustainability and the necessary economic rationality in public action in the management of water.
With the PNR, initially it was decided to continue with the projects that have been started, with an increased coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the Ministry of the Environment, concerned with the distribution of water, selecting those projects that had a higher degree of economic, social and environmental sustainability.
As a result of the experience accumulated during this first period, it was decided that the PNR required an in-depth review, not so much in so far as altering the list of works to be carried out but rather in the criteria of establishing the priorities of these works, adapting them to the clear circumstances of evaluation of the use of water resources. The use of this resource which is becoming more and more expensive and scarce is being affected beyond the clearly unfavourable climatic conditions, by two legal bodies which clearly affect the irrigation policy, which are the Directive Framework of Water and the New Adapted Text of the Water Law. In addition, the opinion amongst those responsible for irrigation, an important element in irrigation Policy, also recommended the afore-mentioned review.
The new criteria may be summarised in three principal parts:
The first is the necessary coordination between the Authorities involved in the water policy, from which a collaboration between the Ministries of Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the Environment will arise, who will implement common actions for the increased distribution and reduced distribution of water.
The second is the efficiency in the consumption of water, obtaining the maximum performance of productions as well as saving very high percentages in the use of water resources.
The third is the promotion of technological innovation, obliging an exhaustive control of the water used, and the automatic management of the irrigation networks by those responsible for irrigation.
All of this has led to the Review of the PNR, formulated in the Royal Decree 287/2006, of 10th March, known as the Action Plan for the Modernisation of Irrigation, in which a priority of the works is established in function with their economic, social and environmental sustainability. Under no circumstances will the public investment destined to this Plan, 2,049 million Euros, be used for new irrigation systems.
Furthermore, for the first time in the history of Spanish irrigation, for each project together with the allocated investment, the water saving which is forecast will be published in the annex corresponding to each project, which will enable the coverage of supply and the rest of uses, including environmental uses. From the list of works to be carried out, the use of water for irrigation derived from recycled waste waters from towns may be determined, as well as the use of water derived from desalation. In this way, a whole array of possibilities may be covered, enabling a considerable saving, estimated at more than 1,162 hm3, and at the same time an improvement in productive potential. Furthermore, all the farmers who are to benefit from the Plan are committed to adopting, through a rigorous programme of environmental surveillance, measures to reduce pollution.
All of the instrumental agents of irrigation policy are to be employed to achieve the proposed objective: TRAGSA, SEIASA State Water Companies and Hydrographic Confederations are becoming more and more involved in their field of action to serve this project. Also, for the first time, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the Ministry of the Environment have drawn up an Royal Decree together. All of this opens up a new horizon of complementarity, synergies and efficiencies which will not only be beneficial to those responsible for irrigation, but also to Spanish society as a whole which is so sensitive to the resource water.
- Dª. Elena Espinosa Mangana
- Minister of Agriculture, Fishing And Food
- Dª. Cristina Narbona Ruiz
- Minister of the Environment
