Feature: Spain's Ebro Transfer - a major turnaround

Problems, not solutions

(Author: Saren Starbridge)

By not addressing the basic issues of water management, the Tajo River transfer created far more problems than it solved. The problems looked certain to be repeated in the Ebro transfer, with illegal boreholes and unsustainable development proposals already proliferating in the areas set to receive water.

And how 'fresh' would the transferred fresh water be? As with many rivers flowing through agricultural and urbanised areas, water in the lower reaches of the Ebro is polluted and saline. Below Zaragoza, where the proposed diversionary dams would have been installed, the water already shows signs of deterioration from heavy usage, with levels of salinity rendering it undrinkable without treatment.

That's in a good year. In drought years, which could occur more frequently according to climate change modelling, the water in the expensively constructed network of pipes could be not just dirty, but barely trickling.

In fact, much of the SNHP, with its reliance on dams and transfers, is a yesterday's plan. In 1835, Spain's Premier Mendizabal claimed, 'Spain will never be rich if its rivers reach the sea.' Scientific understanding of riverine ecology has advanced considerably from that position and is reflected in EU policies such as the Water Framework and other Directives and the Global Water Initiative. In many ways, however, water management planning is still in the 19th century.

Water is treated as a commodity, something to be bought, sold and transported. Plans rarely consider the full value of water and the ecosystems it underpins, nor do they put a real price on water that reflects environmental values as well as all the costs of treatment and delivery.