Groundwater Sustainability Strategies in the Sierra de Gador-Campo de Dalias System, Southeast Spain

Antonio Pulido-Bosch,Luís Molina,Fernando Sola,Angela Vallejos

doi:10.3390/w12113262

Antonio Pulido-Bosch, Luís Molina + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113262

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Journal: Water	Publication Date: Nov 21, 2020
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Granada, University of Almería

Abstract

Maintaining sustainable development in semi-arid regions is a complex task due to scarce precipitation, with notable temporal and spatial variations that complicate planning and proper management of water resources. Most of the water extractions from the aquifers in southeast Spain are carried out to supply a growing agricultural sector and increasingly successful tourism, which is the case of the Sierra de Gador-Campo de Dalias system. Savings, reutilization and awareness among water users are essential elements in any sustainable water policy. Some of the possible solutions proposed that offer low environmental impacts include certain infrastructure works, such as dams, ditches or recharge in gravel pits. Also, desalinization plants constitute a technical alternative in theory but involve high costs. The integration of all these resources, together with their proper management, is necessary to ensure the future water supply and economic growth in the region, safeguarding the state of its aquifers that are currently intensely overexploited.

Highlights

Arid and semi-arid regions account for 10% of the world’s population, despite representing 30%of the world’s land area [1,2]
Agriculture is the greatest consumer of water, surpassing in some cases 80% of the total demand [3]
Semi-arid regions pose a great deal of uncertainty with respect to the recharge of their aquifers due to the irregularity of precipitation, which tends to be torrential [4,5]

Summary

Introduction

Arid and semi-arid regions account for 10% of the world’s population, despite representing 30%of the world’s land area [1,2]. Human-made infrastructure attempting to manage surface water resources in response to water scarcity proves ineffective most years due to a lack of precipitation. In these regions, agriculture is the greatest consumer of water, surpassing in some cases 80% of the total demand [3]. Riverbeds are frequently dry and are commonly used as paths or roads They eventually receive very high peak flows that can be especially destructive, above all in those areas lacking suitable spatial planning. For this and other reasons, exploiting these sporadic flows to recharge aquifers would be of great interest [6]

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