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DELIVERABLE D10.2

Strategies and

recommendations for

river basin management

in Tagus

STRIVER Report No. D10.2

Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins

Title

Strategies and recommendations for river basin management in Tagus

Author(s)

António Betâmio de Almeida, Maria Manuela Portela, Marta Machado, Santiago Beguería, Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano, J. Ignacio López-Moreno, Noemí Lana-Renault, José María García-Ruiz, Dale Campbell and Alistair Rieu-Clarke

Report No.


ISBN

-

Organisation name of lead contractor for this deliverable

IST-CEHIDRO (Portugal and CSIC (Spain)

No. of pages

50 p.

Due date of deliverable:

February 2009

Actual date of deliverable:

June 2009

Dissemination level1

PU

Key words

IWRM, Tagus, flooding, Albufeira convention, hydropower, water scarcity

1 PU Public

PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)

RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)

CO Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)

Title of project: Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins (STRIVER) Instrument: SUSTDEV-2005-3.II.3.6: Twinning European/third countries river basins. Contract number: 037141 Start date of project: July 2006 Duration: 36 months Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006)

Disclaimer The information provided and the opionions given in this publication are not necessarily those of the authors or the EC. The authors and publisher assume no liability for any loss resulting from the use of this report.


Contents

Summary 5

Annex:

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, MM, Machado, M., Beguería S, Vicente-Serrano, SM., López-Moreno, JI.,

Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz. JM., Campbell, D., & Rieu-Clarke, A. 2009. The Tagus River

Basin – Spain and Portugal. STRIVER Policy Brief No. 19

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M., Machado, M., Beguería, S., Vicente-Serrano, S., García-Ruiz, J.M.,

Lana-Renault, N. and Lopéz-Moreno, N. 2009. A comparative assessment of IWRM principles in

Tagus (Spain and Portugal). STRIVER Policy Brief No. 14

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M. and Machado, M. 2009. A case of transboundary water agreement -

- the Albufeira Convention. STRIVER Technical Brief No. 9

Portela, M.M., de Almeida, A.B. and Machado, M. 2009. Development in river basin management in

Portugal – past and future perspectives. STRIVER Technical Brief No. 10

Beguería, S. Vicente-Serrano, S.M, López-Moreno, J.I., Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz, J.M. de

Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M. & Marta Machado. IWRM status in the Tagus basin, Spain.

STRIVER Technical Brief No. 11


5

Summary

This deliverable constitute of the following five Policy and Technical Briefs attached to this

report:

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, MM, Machado, M., Beguería S, Vicente-Serrano, SM., López-Moreno, JI.,

Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz. JM., Campbell, D., & Rieu-Clarke, A. 2009. The Tagus River

Basin – Spain and Portugal. STRIVER Policy Brief No. 19

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M., Machado, M., Beguería, S., Vicente-Serrano, S., García-Ruiz, J.M.,

Lana-Renault, N. and Lopéz-Moreno, N. 2009. A comparative assessment of IWRM principles in

Tagus (Spain and Portugal). STRIVER Policy Brief No. 14

de Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M. and Machado, M. 2009. A case of transboundary water agreement -

- the Albufeira Convention. STRIVER Technical Brief No. 9

Portela, M.M., de Almeida, A.B. and Machado, M. 2009. Development in river basin management in

Portugal – past and future perspectives. STRIVER Technical Brief No. 10

Beguería, S. Vicente-Serrano, S.M, López-Moreno, J.I., Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz, J.M. de

Almeida, A.B., Portela, M.M. & Marta Machado. IWRM status in the Tagus basin, Spain.

STRIVER Technical Brief No. 11

STRIVER POLICY BRIEF Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM

- An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins

PB No. 19

The Tagus River Basin – Spain and Portugal

With the two capital cities Madrid and Lisbon located

along its banks, the Tagus River is a major river in Spain

and Portugal. With increasing pressures due to climate

change, and problems of scarcity and flows there is a

need to develop good monitoring and collaboration

mechanisms between the two countries.

The STRIVER Policy Brief series translate the results from the EC FP6-funded STRIVER project

into practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers

STRIVER POLICY BRIEF / ISSUE NO. 19 2

The Tagus River – Spain and Portugal

António Betâmio de Almeida, Maria Manuela Portela, Marta Machado (IST-CIHEDRO, Portugal),

Santiago Beguería, Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano, J. Ignacio López-Moreno, Noemí Lana-Renault, José

María García-Ruiz (Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones, CSIC, Spain),

Dale Campbell and Alistair Rieu-Clarke (UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science)

Abstract

Because the Tagus is subject to increasing pressures because of demands from urban

areas and agriculture, as well as climate change, the Tagus Segura water transfer and

natural impacts like the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), there is a need to further

develop monitoring and coordination mechanisms to govern the basin’s resources. Each

country has a basin plan in place, and a basin authority responsible for Tagus water

resources (in Portugal, the Tejo Hydrographic Region Administration, and in Spain, the

Tajo Basin Authority). Both countries have established basin plans for their respective

sections of the catchment, prepared in a collaborative and consensual way through the

Tejo Basin Council (Portugal) and the Tajo Council of Users (Spain). These bodies work

within the general national strategies prepared by their respective National Water

Councils.

Acknowledgments

The following stakeholders attended the STRIVER workshops and also gave valuable inputs to this brief:

Professor Alberto Garrido, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Nuria Hernandez-Mora, New Water Culture Foundation Belén Ramos, Medio Ambiente en la Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios João Pedro Avillez, INAG Helder Careto, Geota Alexandra Brito, Conferación de Agricultores de Portugal (CAP) Dr. Francisco Nunes Godinho, Portuguese Water Council adjunct Miguel Gamboa, IST Ms. Maria João Correia, LPN (Nature Protection League)

Fact box

The Tagus River rises in east-central Spain, in the Sierra de Albarracin at an altitude of 1 590 meters, and flows through Portugal where it empties in the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. It is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. The river’s main tributaries are the: Jarama, Alberche, Tietar, Alagon, Guadelia, Almonte and Salor Rivers in Spain and the Erges, Ponsul, Zezere, and Sorraia Rivers in Portugal. Two European capitals with a total of 11 million people depend on the river for their water supply. It is navigable for about 160 km from its mouth, while dams harness its waters for irrigation and hydroelectric power, creating large artificial lakes. The lower and upper courses pass through deep gorges and are broken by waterfalls. There have been efforts to reforest the land surrounding the river. The Tagus estuary, which is one of the three most important ones in Europe, is of great international interest and is the most important wetland in Portugal. A part of the area is a nature reserve under national law and is also designated as a EU Special Protection Area for wild birds.


Major STRIVER Tagus issues and their

policy/management recommendations

The following issues and policy/management

recommendations are a result of research

activities undertaken under the STRIVER

project, and discussions with stakeholders

during three workshops and a number of field

trips (2006-2009). The list of issues does not

confess to be either all encompassing or fully

reflective of all stakeholder interests. However,

every effort has been made to bring in as

broader range of perspectives as possible.

Participants during discussions at the Second Tagus

Stakeholder Workshop in Lisbon, February 28, 2008

1. Water availability and allocation issues

In the Tagus there are competing water

uses among different sectors (farming,

industry, urban water supply) and amongst

regions (water transfer); sometimes

demand exceeds availability.

Increased urbanization, land use and

climate change heighten the potential for

conflict between water uses, particularly

during water shortage periods.

In Spain water saving upstream does not

necessarily affect water availability

downstream due to the Júcar and Segura

basin transfers.

In Spain, lack of water availability in

Madrid in the future is a real possibility, as

is future pressure on the resources in the

headwaters of the Tagus

In Spain, the Tagus-Segura water transfer

accounts for 10% of the total water use in

the Spanish part of the Tagus River Basin,

averaging 500 hm3/year. The Tagus-

Segura transfer therefore is a challenge in

achieving sustainable water allocation

within the basin.

Non-controlled water abstractions are

causing over-exploitation in some areas.

Water allocation is based mainly on long-

term average values and assumes normal

management conditions. Adaptation of the

existing water systems to the concrete

circumstances of each year is done

reactively rather than adopting an

anticipatory approach. Those systems may

therefore fail to accommodate drought

periods effectively. However, at the

bilateral level (State-State) there has been

a recent change in seasonal or weakly

allocation of water, from fixed annual

volume to seasonal flows.

The existing basin plans do not fully

account for the effects of climate and land

cover changes on water availability.

The maintenance and improvement of

hydrological monitoring systems are

fundamental conditions to ensure the

effectiveness of IWRM.

In view of the above findings:

All water consumptions must be measured

and not just estimated. The consumer

pays principle must be fairly implemented,

and should take into consideration the

social, environmental and economic

consequences. Water pricing should be

designed to promote efficient use of

water resources. Distortion due to intra-

sectoral competition between the two

countries should be prevented.

There needs to be more incentives for

water saving and reuse.

New regulations should include ‘hydric

efficiency’, similar to what has been done

with energy efficiency.


Future river basin plans must take into

account the effects of climate and land

cover changes.

In water allocation and planning

measures there is a need to consider

water quantity and quality together, given

that quality determines availability in

some rivers.

Sufficient resources must be put in place

for the maintenance and improvement of

the monitoring systems.

2. Water quality and ecological

status

There are still many problems threatening

water quality within the basin, such as

deficient water treatment, especially in

small towns; over-exploitation, which

increases the concentration of pollutants

and nutrients; and diffuse pollution

sources.

In Madrid and in the metropolitan Lisbon

area (including Lisbon, Barreiro, Almada,

Montijo), for example, lack of capacity to

treat all wastewater is a major challenge,

even to accomplish the goals of EC

Directives.

The lack of capacity to treat wastewater

also contributes to significant pollution of

the estuary.

Inflateable barrier at the Tagus River.

Photo by Geoffrey D. Gooch

The current water quality monitoring and

modelling system is still insufficient.

There are problems with the introduction

of alien invasive species.


Illegal water extraction should be

prosecuted.

There is a need to increase investment in

wastewater treatment, and control

wastewater dumping, gravel excavations

and effluents from farms and irrigation

systems.

Water quality should be adapted to use

requirements, e.g., industrial use might

tolerate lower water quality than drinking

water.

More water quality control is required, with

greater funds and resources for

monitoring.

Ecological quality evaluation must be

implemented in order to verify if the good

status objectives of the EC Water

Framework Directive are to be met by

2015.

An ecological flow regime should be

implemented in order to achieve good

ecological status/potential.

The polluter pays principle must also be

implemented effectively and fairly. Lessons

could be learnt from air pollution regimes.

3. Stakeholder participation in

water management

Although a significant effort has been

made in the last few years to make all

technical data available to the public,

information about the decision-making

process is still deficient. Transparency in

decision-making can help ensure a

balanced use of water and reduce

negative social and environmental

impacts.

Capacity building is a pre-requisite to

public participation. Basic education on

water issues is still lacking.

Water resources management has been

considered during decades a

predominantly technical issue, so public

participation was not incorporated in the

past, although notable developments

have occurred in recent years through the


adoption of the Water Framework

Directive. However, the question of who

participates in what decisions and how,

remains a key challenge.

Active involvement and public

consultation in decision-making remains

largely an aspiration rather than an

effective tool by which to manage water

resources equitably and sustainably.

Stakeholders at the 3rd STRIVER Tagus

Stakeholder Workshop in Madrid in April 2009


More effort is needed to facilitate and

promote stakeholder involvement in

decision-making.

Management at local levels needs to be

coordinated effectively to fully account for

public trust.

Water users should be provided with more

education campaigns focused on

promoting best practices. At the same

time, education and information tools

should be made available (e.g., teaching

materials, ‘water footprint calculator’, etc.

Real time information on the quality of

drinking water could be implemented in

order to make people conscious of water

quality and motivate public trust.

4. Legal and institutional aspects

Major efforts have been made to put a

legal framework in place that facilitates

good water governance and IWRM -

although notable challenges remain.

There is ineffective law enforcement.

Overlapping competences between

different authorities, as well as a lack of

dialogue and coordination of policies can

lead to inefficiency and inequity since

weak institutions can result in the

allocation of water being determined

largely on the basis of power.

In Spain, different interests are

represented by the Ministry of the

Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs.

In Portugal, intra-sectoral coordination is

needed between the different ministries

directly or indirectly involved.

The interstate Albufeira Convention does

not sufficiently account for water quality

issues, or management of extreme events.

Intra-river basin management and

coordination between Spain and Portugal

is at an embryonic stage.


There is a need for stronger support to

monitor implementation of laws relating

to access to information, participation and

IWRM. Water basin authorities should

have the necessary resources to monitor

and enforce regulations.

Capacity building, stronger institutional

coordination and awareness raising is also

needed.

Long term policies independent of

government shifts are needed.

Policy-makers need to consider the long-

term ecosystem impacts and the impact

on flows in Portugal of water transfers to

the southeast of Spain.

Co-ordination of the Spanish and

Portuguese Tagus river basin authorities

should be promoted further, and

transparency to the public improved.

Supranational coordination, considering

the entire Tagus Basin, should be

enforced in the elaboration of each of the

new River Basin Management Plans. The

production of a final joint document is

desirable. The Albufeira Convention’s

provisions relating to water quality and

the co-coordinated management of

extreme events should be strengthened.


The STRIVER Policy and Technical Brief series translate the results from projects into practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers. The Briefs are also available online: www.striver.no About STRIVER STRIVER- Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins is a three year EC funded project 2006-2009 under the 6th framework programme (FP6) coordinated jointly by Bioforsk and NIVA. The point of departure for STRIVER is the lack of clear methodologies and problems in operationalisation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as pointed out by both the scientific and management communities.13 partners from 9 countries participate as contractual partners in addition to an external advisory board. Title of project: Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins (STRIVER) Instrument: SUSTDEV-2005-3.II.3.6: Twinning European/third countries river basins. Contract number: 037141 Start date of project: July 2006 Duration: 36 months Project funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Disclaimer The information provided and the opinions given in this publication are not necessarily those of the authors or the EC. The authors and publisher assume no liability for any loss resulting from the use of this report. Front-cover photo: Tagus River in Portugal. (Photo by Geoffrey D. Gooch) Editor: Per Stålnacke (Bioforsk) Launch-date: 30 June, 2009

http://www.striver.no/

STRIVER POLICY BRIEF Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM


PB No. 14

A comparative assessment of IWRM principles in

Tagus River basin (Spain and Portugal)

Results from a comparative assessment on the IWRM principles and

practices in the Portuguese and Spanish sub basins of Tagus River are

systematized. Important similarities and differences between the two

sub basins are identified as well as some critical issues subject to

improvement.

The STRIVER Brief series translate the results from the EC FP6-funded STRIVER project into

practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers


A comparative assessment of the IWRM principles and

practices in Tagus River basin (Spain and Portugal)

António Betâmio de Almeida, CEHIDRO/IST, Portugal

Maria Manuela Portela, CEHIDRO/IST, Portugal

Marta Machado, CEHIDRO/IST, Portugal

Santiago Beguería, IPE-CSIC, Spain

Sergio Vicente-Serrano, IPE-CSIC, Spain

José María García-Ruiz, IPE-CSIC, Spain

Noemi Lana-Renault, IPE-CSIC, Spain

Nacho Lopéz-Moreno, IPE-CSIC, Spain

Abstract

The Tagus River basin is shared between Portugal and Spain. In both parts of the basin

there are reference management plans that were elaborated under the inspiration of the

basic IWRM principles and implemented during the last decade.

Within the STRIVER project a comparative assessment of the IWRM principles and

practices in the Portuguese and Spanish sub basins was conducted. The comparison

focused on the following five main issues, identified as being particularly relevant for a

sustainable development: a) the environmental aspect; b) the efficient use of water; c)

the institutional dimension; d) the capacity building; and e) the transboundary issues.

This Policy Brief summarises some of the conclusions thus achieved. Important

similarities and differences between the two sub basins are identified as well as some

critical points that should be improved. This assessment can provide a contribution for

future recommendations, regarding the new generation of management plans that are

being prepared in both countries according to the European Water Framework Directive.

Fact box 1

Introduction

This technical brief resumes the results

achieved in [1], providing an assessment of the

extent to which IWRM principles have been

followed in Tagus basin in recent years. For this

purpose a comparative analysis, or „twinning‟

approach, followed by a synthesis of results,

addressing specific constraints, is presented.

This exercise facilitates the identification of

weaknesses and strengths of IWRM

performance in the two parts of the Tagus

basin: the Spanish and the Portuguese ones.

Three planning documents were utilized as

example of the implementation of IWRM: the

Portuguese River Basin and National Water

Plans and the Spanish Hydrological Plan.

The comparative assessment focuses on five

components of IWRM, particularly relevant with

regard to the overall goal of a sustainable

development, namely: a) the environmental

aspect; b) the efficient use of water; c) the

institutional dimension; d) the capacity

building; and e) the transboundary aspects.

Protection of the catchment and

the environment

To compare how the protection of the water

resources and of the environment is

accomplished in the Portuguese and Spanish

parts of the basin four main sequential topics

were considered: a) water pressures and

impacts; b) environmental strategies and plans;

c) implementation of relevant management

instruments; and d) management and

integration of the different environmental

aspects.

a) Water pressures and impacts

The agriculture, industry and hydropower

production, and, in general, the socio-economic

development, are the “driving forces” in Tagus

basin, although the relevance of each sector

varies according to the local constraints.

In Spain and Portugal, water abstraction for

irrigation, urban supply and industrial polluted

rejections impact the water quantity,

sometimes compromising the terrestrial and

aquatic ecosystems. In both countries the

potential water stresses are related principally

to water availability for the different sectors,

especially because of the contrasting interests

between agriculture and urban water supplies.

In Spain a water transfer canal system from

Tagus basin to Segura basin was implemented

in 1978 with a yearly volume of transferred

water not exceeding 600 hm3. In a second

phase the water transfer can reach 1000 hm3.

Almost all of this volume of water is lost in the

Mediterranean Sea diminishing the total

availability in the Tagus basin.

b) Environmental strategies and plans

In order to protect the water resources and to

cope with the different sources of pressures,

specific water resources plans or policies were

developed. The two main planning documents

in the Tagus basin are the Portuguese and the

Spanish hydrological river basin plans. Both

plans enhance sustainable development and

environment protection and include

socio-economic aspects.

The main objectives of the Spanish plan are to

ensure present and future water demand; to

implement efficient water management; to

protect water resources and the environment;

to ensure water quality; to protect from

hydrological extreme events and to protect

cultural and recreation uses. In Portugal, the

plan provides a similar general framing as well

as the strategies and the programmatic targets

for the future planning activities.

In Spain, some new initiatives were recently

put in place to protect the environment, such

as the National Strategy for River Restoration;

the National Plan of Water Quality: Water

Treatment 2007-2015; the Action Plan for

Sewage; the Plan of Priority Actions for

Hydrological and Forestry Restoration; and the

Nature Net 2000 for the protection of natural

sites according to the Nature 2000 Directive.

The latter applies in Portugal as well. In this

country the implementation of the European

Water Framework Directive (WFD) resulted in a

New Water Law (58/2005). This law will lead to

STRIVER POLICY BRIEF / ISSUE NO. 14

4

a new generation of river basin plans whose

studies are about to begin. In Spain the AGUA

Programme (Actions for the Management and

Use of Water) will lead to the preparation of

the New Hydrological Plan for the Tagus basin.

c) Implementation of relevant

management instruments

Some of the management related issues

considered in the Portuguese and Spanish plans

dealt with water resource assessment;

monitoring; controls, standards and guidelines;

risk assessment and management;

environmental impact assessment; and

communication and access to environmental

information.

Regarding the water resources assessment,

both plans have evaluated the surface and

groundwater resources of the Tagus River

basin. For example, Portugal has performed an

assessment based on 50 years of data (from

1940 to 1990) and has estimated the water

consumption by sector, identifying the

withdrawals from surface and groundwater

sources.

Controls, standards and guidelines, as for

example the quality standards for drinking

water, are present in the two parts of the basin

and are enforced by national regulations. Both

countries apply the Waste Water Directive.

Systematic monitoring activities are taking

place on the Tagus basin.

Flood risk is included in the water and land

management. Flood mapping systems were

developed for the basins as measures to

manage the flood risk.

d) Management and integration of the

different environmental aspects

The following aspects were analyzed (Table1):

natural ecosystems and biodiversity; soil,

water, air, climate and landscape and

Integration of the different environmental

aspects.

The levels of protection for riparian zones and

associated ecosystems range from corrective

relation - such as the case of Portugal, where

all the fluvial corridors (50 m from the backline)

are considered protected areas - to the

protection of relevant water related

ecosystems, such as the Laguna de Los Llanos

de Peñalara in Spain. In Tagus basin there are

several natural parks and protected areas to

preserve the ecosystem habitat and

biodiversity.

Table 1 - Qualitative assessment of the level of integration in different environmental aspects in Tagus river Basin

Level of integration in: Tagus (ES)

Tagus (PT)

Freshwater management and coastal zone management

Medium Medium

Land and water management Medium Medium

Green water (for biomass production) and blue waters (water flowing in rivers and aquifers)

Medium ---

Surface and groundwater management

High Medium

Quantity and quality in water resources management

Medium Medium

Upstream and downstream water related interests

Low Medium

Measures to ensure efficient and

equitable use of water

Several initiatives were undertaken to improve

the efficient use of water and to spread the

perception of water as having social and

economic value. Some of the most important

initiatives are the polluter/user–pay approach

(in the Portuguese side) and a set of incentives

for new water-saving technologies and efficient

transport and for replacement of water

intensive crops and cultivars (in the Spanish

side).

For monitoring and for recording and control of

all the water uses, a metering system is already

in place, as a consequence also of the adoption

of policy in which water payment is based on

the utilized volumes and not on a flat basis.

In general, water is recognized as an economic

and social good. The perception of the social

relevance of the water resource leads to the

adoption of strategies to preserve the

environmental value of the rivers, as opposed

to the economic value that is well understood.


5

The price of water in both countries is based on

real costs and gained benefit. In the

Portuguese part, everyone pays with the

exception the minor users and abstractors,

while in the Spanish part there is a political

price to help farmers. Local political priorities

are implemented in terms of different price

levels imposed to certain user categories or

according to the average welfare level of the

concerned society. Policies give irrigation a

special consideration, since required fees are

more or less “political” fees to sustain the

agricultural sector.

Institutional analysis and

stakeholder involvement in water

management

This issue comprehends three aspects:

a) institutions and water law; b) institutional

structure; and c) stakeholder involvement.

Effective and equitable governance is crucial for

the implementation of IWRM plans. Stakeholder

participation is also very important. Citizens

and communities know the environment in

which they live and by sharing information

decision makers can both be better informed,

and take account of differing interests and

perspectives. Active stakeholder involvement is

fundamental to provide feedback in the basin

management.

a) Institutions and water law

The European Water Framework Directive

(WFD) demands that river basin districts are

established. Spain and Portugal are therefore

bound to set up an administrative system for

water management based on hydrological basin

boundaries.

The present systems in Spain and Portugal are

in many ways similar. Each has a basin plan in

place, with each having a separate basin

authority responsible for the management of

the water resources in the basin (in Portugal,

the Tejo Hydrographic Region Administration,

and in Spain, the Tagus Basin Authority). In

both basins, the plans were prepared in a

collaborative and consensual way through the

Tejo Basin Council (Portugal) and the Tagus

Council of Users (Spain). These bodies provide

the participation of the basin stakeholderes and

work within the general national strategies

prepared by their respective National Water

Councils (again with the stakeholder

participation, but representative of national as

opposed to basin interests). In Portugal, the

national Water Institute is responsible for the

implementation of the different basin plans,

with the basin authority taking this function in

Spain. At the national level in Spain, water

resources management is controlled by the

Water Authority, which works under the

auspices of the Ministry of the Environment,

and the Rural and Maritime Environment. The

Water Institute in Portugal by which is

responsible the Ministry for Environment,

Spatial Planning and Regional Development

serves a similar function at the ministerial level.

In both countries, there is no specific

coordinating body.

However, the constitution of the National Water

Councils in both countries goes some way to

alleviating this potential difficulty – both are

made up of representatives from all relevant

ministries, sectoral users, NGOs, regional

authorities and technical bodies.

Finally at the supra-national level, both

countries have obligations with respect to water

policy and information provision under the

Albufeira Convention, which has established the

Water availability (Million m3)

Portugal 6 400 (34,4%)

Spain 12 230 (65,6%)

Total 18 630

Water availability (Million m3)

Portugal 6 400 (34,4%)

Spain 12 230 (65,6%)

Total 18 630

Water uses (Million m3)

Portugal 2 647 (41.3%)

Spain 3 447 (28.2%)

Total 6 084 (32.7%)

Water uses (Million m3)

Portugal 2 647 (41.3%)

Spain 3 447 (28.2%)

Total 6 084 (32.7%)

Fact box 2


6

Conference of the Parts to coordinate

transboundary cooperation over the river, this

organization being quite effective.

Allocation networks

In the Tagus basin, Spain‟s Water Law

demands that a particular hierarchy of uses be

respected in the context of a drought – supply

to population; agricultural uses; electricity

generation; industrial uses; aquiculture;

recreational uses; navigation and aquatic

transport; and other uses. Interestingly,

environmental requirements are not covered in

this prioritization list. In Portugal the priorities

for water use, which apply in periods of

scarcity, are water distribution to the public,

followed by agricultural and industrial uses.

b) Institutional Structure

The following organograms give an outline of

the institutional structure in place for water

management in the Tagus River basin for the

Portuguese and Spanish parts.

Figure 1 – Spanish (top) and Portuguese (bottom)

institutional structure organograms.

c) Stakeholder involvement

Both countries have achieved different levels of

public participation in the water management

process and have ratified three UNECE

conventions which have provisions for access to

information and public participation:

• Convention on Environmental Impact

Assessment in a Transboundary Context,

1991 (Espoo, Convention).

• Convention on the Protection and Use of

Transboundary Watercourses and

International Lakes, 1992.

• Convention on Access to Information,

Public Participation in Decision-making and

Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

(Aarhus Convention)

The Albufeira Convention about the cooperation

for the protection and sustainable use of the

waters of Portuguese-Spanish basins and the

additional protocol of the Convention states

that all information related to the Convention

must be available. The WFD also foresees the

access to information and public participation.

Despite these issues, the stakeholder and

public participation have been relatively limited

in terms of decision-making process.

Access to information: Portugal

The Tagus River Basin plan was presented to

public discussion from November 2000 until

January 2001. All the studies were made

available in meetings and in official websites (of

the Water Institute). Stakeholders‟ fora, where

key sectors were represented and where

strategic decisions were discussed, were

promoted via the National Water Council and

the Tagus Basin Council. After the public

discussion period, the Water National Council

issued a favourable opinion about the plan.

Access to decision-making: Portugal

During the elaboration of the Tagus River Basin

Plan, the law in force imposed a framework for

integrated water resources management, also

ensuring public participation in the decision of

the basin process.

According to the Regulatory Decree, that

approved Tagus River Basin Plan, the


7

elaboration of such plan was closely followed

by the Water National Council and by the Tagus

Basin Council, the latter acting as a mechanism

for water resources management at a regional

level where all the state agencies related to

water utilization, as well as all the water users

were represented. Despite all the legal

dispositions concerning stakeholders and public

involvement, it should be noted that the public

sessions related to the plan mainly had

participants from those sectors such as

agriculture and industry with a strong interest

in the outcomes of any decisions. The general

public was not usually aware of the importance

of involvement in questions related to water

use and conservation. No financial support was

provided to ensure the participation of the

stakeholders in the meetings.

Access to Information: Spain

The WFD and the AGUA Programme require the

elaboration of a new Hydrological Plan for the

Tagus basin. The elaboration of such plan

involves a greater participation of the regions

and also more public participation. In April

2008, some meetings were held in separate

groups, including: water managers, social

network, private companies/industry, end users

and institutions.

Participants are continuously informed about

each step of the process, relevant activities,

etc. For instance, several documents related to

the initial steps of the planning process were

uploaded with free access in a web page. The

AGUA Programme also promotes public/social

participation in the elaboration of hydrological

plans.

Access to decision-making: Spain

The conception of the new plan should avoid

unbalanced situations as discrepancies in

allocation are perceived among stakeholders in

terms of water scarcity and the balance

between urban and irrigation consumption as

well as problems like inefficiency of irrigation

systems which leads to overestimating water

availability. In Spain for the elaboration of the

new Hydrological Plan, local end users, local

environmental organizations and independent

water experts will form the planning body.

Traditionally, the agricultural sector and,

especially, irrigation communities had a very

important role in the social structure and

organisation of local communities. The

Hydrological Plan of The Tagus Basin respects

the historical rights that are still preserved in

some private irrigation systems. All the new

water utilizations require permission/

/concessions licences.

Capacity building

Capacity building is the process of development

and strengthening of the abilities of people,

institutions and societies to perform functions,

solve problems, and set and achieve objectives.

Effective IWRM requires an enabling

environment and conscious and competent

actors. Capacity building can take place at

different levels that go from central and

regional political institutions and departments,

to NGO's and civil society, farmers, fishermen,

small businesses etc.

In Tagus basin, the type of capacity building

that is mostly to be found is the kind of

information provided by environmental NGO‟s

and aimed at increasing knowledge of

environmental problems. There is also to a

certain extent information provided by the

Spanish and Portuguese water authorities

aiming at decreasing the negative impacts of

excessive and often unnecessary use of water

in agriculture (e.g. for irrigating olive groves) or

even for personal hygiene or teaching the

young people the main concepts related with

the water cycle and with water resources

preservation. Figure 2 illustrates the main web

page of the Portuguese Water Institute in

September 2008, showing the link to the web

site designed for the young people (INAG

Jovem). Special information regarding the

ongoing public inquiries (Aviso – Discussão

Pública) or droughts (Secas) and the protection

of the coastal areas (Arribas) was also

provided.

In the Spanish part of the basin, the water

management is highly centralized in the Tagus

Water Confederation (TWC). Apart from this

confederation, the regional (Community of

Madrid, Community of Castilla La Mancha,


8

Community of Extremadura) and local

(municipal) authorities have competences

attributed in water management. The water

management is highly specific and centralized,

and there is little public involvement, despite

the effort made in the last years to promote

transparency and public participation.

Figure 2 - Examples of capacity building improvement in

the main web page of the Portuguese Water Institute in

September 2008 (www.inag.pt).

Apart from what is mentioned in the plan, there

are a number of initiatives leaded by the TWC,

the public administration and other

organizations (including NGO‟s, farming

organizations, etc.) devoted to capacity

building. These campaigns focus mostly on

good water use practices, and they are aimed

at the families, farmers, etc. Some examples

are campaigns promoting a rational use of

water such as those by the foundation

agua-dulce.org, or the campaign for a

responsible consume (including water) by the

TWC.

In Portugal, the public entities with competency

in all issues related with water resources are

the Water Institute (INAG), at the national

level, and the Hydrographic Region

Administrations (HRA) at the regional level.

Those who work in the different agencies need

to have a background compatible with the

activities they develop which ensures the

required capacity building. Besides that there

are also other organizations and groups that

contribute to capacity building, such as farmers

or fishermen organizations or NGOs, such as

the LPN (Nature Protection Association) and the

Quercus (National Association for the Nature

Conservation).

Also, whenever special situations occur, as

during the drought of 2005, warnings are

spread (through the media) “teaching” the

public how to preserve water or energy. Also,

the SNIRH website from the Water Institute

always has campaigns providing relevant

information regarding the water resources. It

has also a HydroLibrary where a large number

of articles, books and specific publication are

always available. Equivalent information though

more focused in the environmental questions is

also provided in the webpage of the Portuguese

Environment Agency. Nowadays there is a joint

program – between the Education Ministry and

the Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional

Development Ministry (Eco-School Program)

which acts at the levels of the under graduated

schools and high schools providing information

related with all the environmental areas,

including the water resources. Also the so

called Eco-Centers aiming at spreading

information related with the environment are

being created, either by the Portuguese

Environment Agency or by the local

Municipalities.

Transboundary issues

In 1998 an “Agreement on the cooperation for

the protection and the sustainable use of

Spanish and Portuguese transboundary basins”,

also known as the Albufeira Convention was

signed by Portugal and Spain.

It came into force in 2000. In the Tagus basin

(as in the other four transboundary basins

between Spain and Portugal), important actor

in transboundary water management is the

Conference of the Parts which includes

representatives of the Spanish and Portuguese

Governments. A number of governmental and

departmental working groups also exist.

Concerning information exchange, there is an

„Information Exchange Work Group‟, and

agreements stipulate the type of data that has

to be exchanged in order to monitor water

management in transboundary basins.

http://www.inag.pt/


9

Conclusions This comparative assessment, according to the

five selected IWRM themes, has revealed some

similarities and differences between the

Portuguese and the Spanish Tagus River sub

basins. There is some similarity regarding the

economic development with socio-economic

pressures linked to agriculture, industry and/or

hydropower production. Economic growth often

comes at the expense of the environment, and

sometimes also of social equity - creating

grounds for conflicts between water users. An

effective institutional framework, guidelines and

policies are needed to ensure that mitigation

measures are devised, to sustain both natural

resources and important human and cultural

values.

Water quantity is a common problem for the

Tagus basin. Scarcity of water is related to

conflicts over the allocation of water – both

between sectors and between urban and rural

areas. Urban versus rural consumption of water

is a big issue, especially in relation to the major

cities of Madrid and Lisbon.

In the Spanish part of the Tagus basin, waste

water treatment from small towns and from

Madrid is insufficient, causing problems for

agricultural crops which depend on water

quality. Runoff from agriculture and leaks from

old power stations are other important sources

of pollution in this area. It seems that in the

Portuguese part of the Tagus river water

pollution is not a major source of problem. All

the basin reports refer to water standards and

monitoring programs, but monitoring is said to

be insufficient in most basins.

Another aspect of “environmental protection‟ is

the existence of protected areas. The Tagus

basin has natural parks and protected areas to

preserve the ecosystem habitat and

biodiversity. However, if these areas represent

only a small fraction of the river basin, and

elsewhere the resources are managed in a

non-sustainable way, such areas may not be

sufficient.

From the technical point of view, both Portugal

and Spain have developed plans or policy

actions to protect most of the environmental

aspects. However, it is difficult to assess the

status of implementation and the effectiveness

of such measures.

Both countries apply the user-payer approach

based on costs and benefits, and Spain has

incentives for the adoption of new water saving

technologies and efficient transport, and of non

water-intensive crops and cultivars.

Protected AreasNatura 2000 sites (Directive 92/409/CEE)Special Protection Area (Directive 79/409/CEE)

Tejo Watershed Figure 3 - Protected areas in the Portuguese Tagus River

basin.

Transparency in the decision making process

can help to ensure a balanced use of water and

to reduce negative impacts on society and

environment. In the Tagus basin, public

participation in decision making has been

relatively limited, however the river basin plans

that are required under the WFD will open up

the decision making process more.

Capacity building may be important to achieve

effective public participation and is included in

many water policies and strategies of Tagus

basin.


10

Fact box 3

During 2008, a focus group experience was conducted in the Tagus Basin in which different groups of stakeholders

were asked to discuss about some topics relevant for IWRM. The minutes of these series of workshops reflect the

opinion of the stakeholders about the implementation of IWRM in the Tagus Basin. Following are the main conclusions

drawn from the meetings held in Madrid. (Key: A: administration; F: farmers; E: ecologists; I: industry; X: fishermen

associations.)

Water availability. Water availability in the basin is threatened mostly by the Tajo-Segura water transfer (AFEXI),

and in second place by urban growth (FE). There is a problem of water scarcity and uncertainty for agriculture, and

there is not enough regulation (F).

Water allocation / equity issues. The Tajo-Segura water transfer is a major equity issue for the basin, and it is

solved politically (AFEXI). There is a discrimination of small companies and individual users in favor of large companies

(EI). Water concessions are seen as a property, and not a temporal concession (X).

Water quality. The water quality is low in the middle and lower parts of the basin (AFEXI) due to deficient water

treatment in small towns (AFEXI), illegal waste water dumping from the industry (AEXI), illegal gravel extraction (E)

and intensive farming (E). Law is not strong enough against pollutants (A). There is not enough control of water quality

(AEX), due to not enough funds and resources for monitoring (A).

Ecological flow, environmental impact. The minimum ecological flow is not respected in many cases (EXI), and

there is a lack of a well established methodology for determining the ecological flow (AXI). Besides, ecological flow

regulation is not imposed to old dealerships (A). There is not enough protection of the riparian environment (AF).

Water cost, new technology and efficiency. There is fear that increasing the water costs to meet the market prize

will be very negative for the agriculture (F). Modernizing the irrigation systems is expensive, more than water is, so

there should be public subsidies to promote modernizing and water saving (F).

Administration. There is a problem of mixed competences and lack of coordination between the water

administrations (AFEXI). Besides, there are territorial and political conflicts between regional administrations (AEI).

Law enforcement. In general, there is not enough enforcement of the water and environmental laws (AEXI).

EU Water Frame Directive. There are difficulties in adapting to the EU Water Frame Directive in time (A).

Information and participation. Although an effort has been made to make all hydrological data public on the web

(A), it is very difficult to get information beyond the technical data, so the decision-making process is not completely

transparent (FEXI). Public participation is still very restricted (FEXI), and many times the opinion of the users or the

request for information is ignored by the administration (EXI). Public participation is not an important issue even for

some people from the administration (A). There are doubts about the success or even the convenience of public

participation in IWRM due to sectorial and territorial conflicts, so there is a risk to convert the process of IWRM in a

political fight (AE). However, the situation is improving and a draft version of the new basin management plan will be

released and discussed with the public in 2009 (A), and meetings with the stakeholders are also planned (A).

IWRM. IWRM is currently not implemented in the catchment due to a lack of transparency and public participation

(FEXI). Water resources management is seen as a mere technical issue, and most managers are engineers (I).

Capacity building. There is a need to improve the education of the society with respect to IWRM (FEXI).


11

The first impression from the institutional

analysis and stakeholder participation is that

the implementation of IWRM still has a long

way to go. Strategies and basin plans are

generally available or under preparation.

Institutional coordination is problematic,

exacerbated by the multitude of bodies

involved, patchy definition of roles and

functions and no doubt a lack of financial

capacity.

There is a need for the improvement of the

stakeholders participation in the river basin

management in order to allow the stakeholders

to interact on a regular basis before conflicts

may escalate and also allow stakeholders

access to information which will improve their

capacity to implement IWRM. Such

organizations can help to prevent conflicts

between upstream and downstream users and

to provide a communications platform to help

fulfill legal requirements for stakeholder access

to information and decision-making in river

basin management.

Regarding the transboundary, regulated by the

Albufeira convention, problems may occur

related with drought and low flow

management.

References

This STRIVER Policy Brief is based on the

following research reports and scientific

literature:

Nesheim, I., McNeill, D., Stålnacke, P., Sekhar, N. U., Grizzetti B., Allen, A. A., Barton D., Beguería-Portugés S., Berge D., Bouraoui F., Campbell D., Deelstra, J., García-Ruiz, J.M., Gooch G. D., Joy K., Lana-Renault, N., Machado M., Manasi S., Nhung D. K., Paranjape S., Portela M. M., Rieu-Clarke A., Saravanan V. S., Thaulow, H., Vicente-Serrano, S.,71 P. 2008. The first IWRM assessment report for the four case basins: Glomma, Tagus, Sesan and Tungabhadra. STRIVER Report D5.1.


12

The STRIVER Policy and Technical Brief series translate the results from the project into practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers. The Briefs are also available online: www.striver.no About STRIVER STRIVER- Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins is a three year EC funded project 2006-2009 under the 6th framework programme (FP6) coordinated jointly by Bioforsk and NIVA. The point of departure for STRIVER is the lack of clear methodologies and problems in operationalisation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as pointed out by both the scientific and management communities.13 partners from 9 countries participate as contractual partners in addition to an external advisory board. Title of project: Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins (STRIVER) Instrument: SUSTDEV-2005-3.II.3.6: Twinning European/third countries river basins. Contract number: 037141 Start date of project: July 2006 Duration: 36 months Project funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Disclaimer The information provided and the opinions given in this publication are not necessarily those of the authors or the EC. The authors and publisher assume no liability for any loss resulting from the use of this report. Editors: Per Stålnacke and Johannes Deelstra (Bioforsk) Launch date: 17 April 2009


STRIVER TECHNICAL BRIEF Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM


TB No. 9

A case of transboundary water agreement

- the Albufeira Convention

The Albufeira Convention (1998) regulates the transboundary waters in the shared basins between Spain and Portugal.

This brief gives insights into this convention and the historical development of bilateral cooperation between Spain and Portugal around water management, natural resource and integrated basin management.



Tagus River near the Portuguese-Spanish border

STRIVER TECHNICAL BRIEF / ISSUE NO. 9 2

A case of transboundary water agreement - the

Albufeira Convention

António Betâmio de Almeida, IST, Portugal

Maria Manuela Portela, IST, Portugal

Marta Machado, IST, Portugal

Abstract

The “relations between Portugal and Spain from the perspective of river basin

management date back to the 19th century and the signing, in 1864, of the Treaty of

Limits, which stipulates that boundary-spanning resources should be used for mutual

benefit and without harm to the interests of the other party. Between 1864 and 1968, a

further four international instruments were signed whose main aim was to promote the

production of hydroelectric power. However, it was only from 1994 onwards that

significant steps were taken to progress bilateral cooperation in the field of

transboundary river basin management.

At that time, negotiations were started on the Convention on Cooperation for the

Protection and Sustainable Use of Waters in Portuguese-Spanish River Basins (Albufeira

Convention), which culminated in the signing of the Convention in 1998 and its entry into

force in 2000. The Albufeira Convention is notable for extending the scope and reach of

Portuguese-Spanish relations in matters relating to waters, not only broadening the

geographical scope to include all areas within the river basins, but also introducing

innovative substantive issues” [3].

Fact box

The Albufeira Convention (1998) includes the Tagus, Minho, Lima, Duero/Douro, and

Guadiana Rivers, that all flow to from Spain to Portugal. The Convention cover themes

such as bilateral information exchange, information to the public, assessment and

dialogue on transboundary impacts, pollution control and prevention, water uses,

droughts and resource scarcity, assignment of rights, dispute resolution, etc. The

Convention follows very closely the recommended rules of international water law,

particularly the 1997 New York Convention (ILC Draft Articles) and the International

Court of Justice dispositions.

Source: Costa, L., Vergés, J.C., Arraqué, B. Shaping new Lusco Spanish Convention.

http://www.ualg.pt/5cigpa/comunicacoes/Shaping%20a%20new%20Luso%20Spanish%20Convention%20%2

0(15.10.2006).doc.


The physical and historical context

Portugal shares with Spain five river basins

(Figure 1), the areas of which represent 40%

of the total area of the Iberia Peninsula, 42%

of the area of Mainland Spain and 64% the

area of Mainland Portugal. It should be

stressed that most of the border between the

two countries (68%) coincides with river

stretches. Table 1 shows the distribution

between Portugal and Spain of the areas of

the shared basins. The bulk of those areas

(78%) is located in Spain, being mostly in an

upstream position.

Figure 1: Portuguese- Spanish river basins

Table 1: River basins shared between Portugal and

Spain

Spain Portugal Total Spain Portugal

Miño/Minho 16230 850 17080 95 5

Limia/Lima 1300 1180 2480 52 48

Duero/Douro 79000 18600 97600 81 19

Tajo/Tejo 55800 24800 80600 69 31

Guadiana 55300 11500 66800 83 17

Total 207630 56930 264560 78 22

River (Castilian/

/Portuguese)

Basin area

In km2 In percentage

Source: INAG (2001), Portuguese National Water Plan.

The specific reservoir capacity (that is, the

capacity of the existing reservoirs expressed in

hm3 per km2) is, in general, higher in Spain

than in Portugal (Table 2). Taking into account

that almost 40% of the Portuguese water

resources flows from Spain, it is easy to

understand the relevance, namely for the

downstream country, of the shared basins and

of the transboundary rivers. The highly

pronounced spatial and temporal irregularity of

the Portuguese hydrologic regime makes even

more important to its water budget the

contribution of the water flowing from Spain.

Table 2: Reservoir capacity in the shared river

basins

hm3

hm3/km

2hm

3hm

3/km

2

Miño/Minho 2880 0.18 0.2 0

Limia/Lima 170 0.13 400 0.34

Duero/Douro 1670 0.1 1080 0.06

Tajo/Tejo 11140 0.2 2750 0.11

Guadiana 9220 0.17 460* 0.04

Total 31080 0.15 4690 0.08

River (Castilian/

/Portuguese)

Reservoir capacity

Spain Portugal

*Before the construction of Alqueva dam in the

Portuguese stretch of Guadiana River. The Alqueva

reservoir is the largest artificial reservoir in Europe, having

a net capacity of 3,150hm3.

Source: INAG (2001), Portuguese National Water Plan.

The institutional agreement between Portugal

and Spain in what concerns water resources

management began in the 19th century and

since then several conventions or treaties were

signed:

Treaty on Limits (1864);

Rules for the Uses of International

Stretches of Rivers (1866);

Convention on Limits (1926);

Convention for the Use of the

International Stretch of River Douro and

its Tributaries (1927);

Convention for the Use of the

International Stretches of Rivers Minho,

Lima, Tejo, Guadiana and Chança and its

tributaries (1968)

Most of the previous agreements aimed at

ensuring a convenient exploitation of the

hydropower resources along the international

stretches of the shared rivers.

Albufeira Convention

Between 1993 and 1998 a new framing for the

transboundary waters was negotiated leading


to a new water resources Portuguese/Spanish

convention that was signed in the town of

Albufeira (Algarve) in 1998: the so called

Albufeira Convention which came into effect in

January 2000.

This new convention followed very closely the

recommendations of the 1997 New York

Convention and was influenced by the

principles included in the main international

treaties related to transboundary waters (e.g.

Espoo and Helsinki conventions) as well as by

the philosophy of the EU Water Framework

Directive, WFD1 in what concerns, among

other topics, the need for harmonized

1 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of

the Council – Establishing a framework for Community

Action in the field of Water Policy.

objectives for waters and aquatic ecosystems,

coordination of measures, river basin plans

and management authorities, public

participation and exchange of information.

The 1998 Albufeira Convention has a

Preamble, 35 Articles, two Annexes and an

additional protocol: the interim river flow

regimes (see Fact box).

Some main issues of this Convention are:

Information exchange related with the

status of the water, the water uses and

the water infrastructures.

Evaluation of the transboundary impacts.

Albufeira Convention (1998) – Structure and main topics Fact box

Preamble and 35 Articles. – water uses

Annex I: Information exchange – river flows

Annex II: Transboundary impacts

– accidental pollution incidents

– floods

Part I: General clauses (Arts. 1 to 4): – droughts and water scarcity

– definitions, scope and objectives and co-

operation forms

Part II: Co-operation (Arts. 5 to 12):–

– exchange of information

– information to the public Part VI: Final Clauses (Arts. 24 to 35):

– transboundary impact assessment – affected rights

– mechanisms for co-operation – mechanisms for consultation

– communication systems – conflict resolution

– mechanisms for emergency and alert situations – force of the existing Conventions on rivers

– safety of infra-structures– extinction of the existing International Rivers -

Commission

– force of the Convention

– water quality – denouncement of the Convention

– pollution prevention and control – entry into force of the Convention

co-operation bodies: Conf. of Parties, Com. for

the Application and Development of the

Convention

Part IV: Exceptional Situations (Arts. 17 to

19):

Part V: Institutional Clauses (Arts. 20 to 23):

Additional protocol (updated in 2008): interim

river flow regimes.

Annex to the additional protocol: bases for the

interim river-flow regimes.

Part III: protection and sustainable use of

waters (Arts. 13 to 16):


Co-ordination of programmes of

measures for protecting waters and

ecosystems, pollution prevention and

control, ensuring sustainable uses of

water;

Co-ordination of programmes of

measures for controlling floods, droughts

and pollution accidents;

Joint authorities to implement the regime

of the Convention.

The Convention establishes water allocation

rules: except for one of the rivers (the Lima

river), yearly guaranteed stream flows to

Portugal in “normal” hydrologic years were

initially established. Under “exceptionally” dry

years, the “non-significant term” rule applied:

the water supplied to Portugal should guaranty

the ecologic flows required under those

conditions, these flows being established by a

specific technical commission (CADC). For the

Guadiana River, the definition of “normal”

years also accounted for the water storage in

the reservoirs located in the basin.

The Convention created an intergovernmental

technical commission - the Commission for the

Application and Development of the

Convention, CADC – which is responsible for

analyzing and for preparing proposals related

with issues involving the interpretation and

application of the Albufeira Convention.

This Commission includes several work groups

(WG), such as the flow regime, droughts and

emergency occurrences WG; the information

exchange WG; the safety of infrastructures

and floods WG; the WFD and water quality

WG. It also includes a sub commission devoted

to public participation (Figure 2). The

application of the convention is controlled in

several measuring points, as shown in

Figure 3.

A political Conference of the Parties (headed

by a Minister of each State) to take decisions

was also created. The first Conference of the

Parties took place in Lisbon on 27th July 2005,

bolstering the work of the Commission for the

Application and Development of the

Convention (CADC) through the stimulation of

its various working groups.

Support from the

Portuguese

Foreign Affairs

Ministry

Support from the

Spanish Foreign

Affairs Ministry

CADC

Portuguese

Delegation

CADC Spanish

Delegation

Flow regime, droughts and

emergency occurrences WG

Information exchange WG

Infrastructures safety and floods

WG

WFD and water quality WG

Public participation sub

commission

Working Groups (WG) and Sub

Commission

Portuguese

Technical

Secretariat

Spanish

Technical

Secretariat

Figure 2: Organogram of the Commission for the

Application and Development of the Convention, CADC.

Figure 3: Control points of the application of

Albufeira Convention (adapted from [1]].

The second Conference of the Parties was held

on 19th February 2008 in Madrid, at which joint

maps defining water masses were approved.

Of note was the approval of a new flow regime


based on a quarterly guarantee of minimum

flow rates, with weekly minimums under

certain conditions.

The Albufeira Convention can be understood

as the result of a long history of successfully

collaboration between Portugal and Spain in

what concerns the harmonious share of the

international natural water resources.

This collaboration allowed the construction

since the late fifties of important dams mainly

for hydropower purposes in the river reaches

along the border or near the border as it

happens in most of the transboundary rivers

(Table 3 and Figures 4 and 5). Some of those

dams, as Alcántara dam, also have an

important role in the flood control, mitigating

the flood impacts downstream in Portugal.

Table 3: Dams with transboundary impacts, located

at or near the border. Installed

capacityHeight

(MW) (m)

Frieira/Freiria Spain Miño/Minho 1969 17.5 33

Sela Spain Miño/Minho Under design -- --

Miranda Portugal Duero/Douro 1960 390 80

Picote Portugal Duero/Douro 1958 180 100

Bemposta Portugal Duero/Douro 1964 210 87

Aldeadávila Spain Duero/Douro 1963 1139 139

Saucelle Spain Duero/Douro 1956 525 83

Alcántara Spain Tajo/Tejo 1969 915 135

Alqueva Portugal Guadiana 2004 240 96

Name Country RiverYear of

completion

Figure 4: Dams with transboundary impacts, located

at or near the border.

Figure 5: Alcántara (Spain, Tajo/Tejo River) and

Alqueva (Portugal, Guadiana River) dams.

An example, among others, of the good

collaboration between Spain and Portugal was

the simulation exercise of Alcántara dam

failure, organized by the civil protection

authorities of both countries.

To ensure the balance, between Portugal and

Spain, of the capacity installed along the

international reaches of the transboundary

rivers a last hydropower scheme is still waiting

to be built: the Sela scheme located in

Miño/Minho River (see Figure 4). To guarantee

an equitable distribution, the installed capacity

in such scheme will be split between the two

countries.


Despite the special features of each

transboundary basin, the Albufeira Convention

ensures a global and transversal policy, except

in what concerns the flow regime of the Tagus

River where the Tajus/Segura water transfer is

considered, as established since the

Convention of 1968

Some of the critics pointed out to the

Convention involved the guaranteed flows

(which had been set too low, their temporal

pattern within the year being as important as

their value, at least for Portugal) and the

criteria for the “exceptional” years (being not

so an exception: e.g. for Tagus River their

probability of occurrence was about once in

each four years [2]).

New Outcomes

In February 2008 the Conference of the Parties

approved the CADC proposal for a new flow

regime protocol.

This new protocol defines a more detailed flow

regime which, for Douro, Tejo and Guadiana

Rivers, specifies, under “normal” hydrological

situations, minimum flows along different

periods of the year. The Conference of the

Parties also approved a new protocol related

with the environmental evaluation of the

transboundary effects. A permanent technical

secretariat for the CADC was also created.

This will improve the capacity of the CADC for

monitoring and analyzing the transboundary

issues in the Iberian shared river basins

(Figure 1).

The Future

Joint river basins authorities should be created

between Spain and Portugal for the shared

rivers basins aiming at elaborating and

implementing integrated river basin

management plans.

This would improve the ecological integrity of

the shared river basins and would guarantee

the sustainability of water use and of

development of the shared basins.

References

This STRIVER Technical Brief was based on

the following research reports and scientific

literature:

[1] Borges, O. “A Convenção de Albufeira e o

novo ciclo de planeamento”, El nuevo ciclo

de planificación hidrológica en España - La

elaboración de los planes hidrológicos,

Madrid, Spain, 30 de Março de 2007;

[2] Correia, F.N. “O regime de caudais na

Convenção Luso-Espanhola (The flow

regime in the Luso-Spanish Convention)” -

Workshop on the Water Resources Luso-

Spanish Convention, IST, Lisbon, Portugal,

1999;

[3] Council of the European Union, Brussels, 29

February 2008, 7167/08, ENV 136;

For public information (websites):

www.cadc-albufeira.org

www.inag.pt

www.inag.pt/inag2004/port/a_intervencao/

planeamento/pna/pna.html

http://cnpgb.inag.pt/gr_barragens/gbingles

/index.htm

www.chguadiana.es/ www.chtajo.es/ www.chminosil.es/ www.chduero.es/

Portuguese Natural Park of International Douro

River.

http://www.cadc-albufeira.org/

http://www.inag.pt/

http://www.inag.pt/inag2004/port/a_intervencao/planeamento/pna/pna.html

http://www.inag.pt/inag2004/port/a_intervencao/planeamento/pna/pna.html




STRIVER TECHNICAL BRIEF Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins

TB No. 10

"evolutionary adaptive process" of improvement of the water resources management

Development in river basin management in Portugal – past and future perspectives The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has created a new legal framework in Europe around the IWMR process. The recent development of new IWRM authorities, concepts and practical tools in Portugal, as well as some of the short and medium-term perspectives are presented this brief

The STRIVER Brief series translate the results from the EC FP6-funded STRIVER project into practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers

Adapted from [1]


Development in river basin management in Portugal – past and future perspectives

Maria Manuela Portela, IST, Portugal António Betâmio de Almeida, IST, Portugal Marta Machado, IST, Portugal Abstract

As a consequence of the Water Framework Directive, WFD, deep transformations occurred in the IWMR process in Europe. The recent evolution of the IWRM authorities, concepts and practical tools in Portugal, as well as some of the short and medium-term perspectives are presented. It should be stressed that the new “water resource framing” applies to any Portuguese River basin, including the Tejo/Tagus River basin, which mainly became part of the recently created Lisbon and Tagus Valley Hydrographic Region.

Fact box

The Tagus basin divides the Iberian Peninsula into two parts with similar areas, being a transition between the wet Peninsula and the dry Peninsula. In fact there is a considerable difference among the tributaries of Tagus River, those located in the right/North bank having much more water than the ones of the left/South bank.

The Tagus River basin has the highest population occupation of the Iberian Peninsula with three millions of inhabitants living in the Portuguese sub basin and six millions in the Spanish sub basin, both capitals – Lisbon and Madrid - being located there.

In Portugal, the basin extends for three regions – Centre, Lisbon and Tagus Valley and Alentejo – with a very concentrated settlement in the costal regions of Metropolitan Lisbon area and of Setúbal Peninsula and with disperse settlement in the rest of the basin, thus introducing a pronounced asymmetry between the coastal and the inner zones. In Spain, the basin extends for five autonomic communities three of those communities representing more than 90% of the basin area: Castilha-La Mancha, Extremadura and Madrid, with 48.0, 30.0 and 14.4 %, respectively. 80% of the population of the basin is concentrated in the Madrid community.

The general pattern of the population distribution is similar in the Portuguese and Spanish sub basins with a significant percentage of the population living very small areas – the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Madrid. The concentration of the population allied with an intensive economic activity demarcates those areas from the rest of the territory of each country.

Though the Tagus River is the third Iberian river in basin area and in water availability (after the Duero and the Ebro Rivers), it “provides water” to the majority of the population of the Peninsula, even supplying water to more one and a half more million inhabitants by means of the Tagus-Segura transfer.

Background “Freshwater management is crucial for sustainable development, both in developed countries, where water is still being wasted, and in developing countries, which cannot hope to achieve the economic and social development they seek unless they can guarantee their populations a safe water supply.

Instruments for water resource management have an important role to play in preventing water-related conflicts, through assessing the resource’s spatial and temporal variability along the river basin. It is therefore important to design a long-term water policy in order to promote more adequate land use and better protection of water quality and associated ecosystems. In this context, it is also important to mention the need to tie integrated water resource management in with the prevention of and protection against extreme hydrological conditions” [4].

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

X

XI

VII

VIII

IX

XIIIXII

XIV

XV

I 6/2001, 5th Dec - Guadiana RBP

II 17/2001, 5th Dec - Minho RBP

III 18/2001, 7th Dec - Tejo RBP

IV 19/2001, 10th Dec - Douro RBP

V 5/2002, 8th Feb - Mira RBP

VI 6/2002, 12th Feb - Sado RBP

VII 9/2002, 1st Mar - Mondego RBP

VIII 11/2002, 8th Mar - Lima RBP

IX 12/2002, 9th Mar - Ribeiras do Algarve RBP

X 15/2002, 14th Mar - Vouga RBP

XI 17/2002, 15th Mar - Cávado RBP

XII 18/2002, 19th Mar - Leça RBP

XIII 19/2002, 20th Mar - Ave RBP

XIV 23/2002, 23rd Mar - Lis RBP

XV 26/2002, 26th Mar - Ribeiras do Oeste RBP

Figure 1: Regulative Decrees that approved the 15 Portuguese River Basins Plans (Mainland Portugal).

“In Portugal, the drawing up of the National Water Plan (NWP), in 2001, and 15 River Basins Plans (RBPs), in 2000, was based on a process of characterising and diagnosing the current water resource situation, the

challenges brought about by a new policy approach, socio-economic evolution scenarios and the main pressures on water resources. These Plans established a set of goals and measures, a timescale for their enforcement, and mechanisms for their implementation and assessment” [5].

The Water Framework Directive and the Portuguese Water Law from 2005 In 2005, a new Water Law, WL (Law 58/2005, 29th December 2005) came into force in Portugal, strengthening the water resources planning process by establishing the basis and the institutional framework for the future water management policy.

This new law aims at providing the means for the sustainable management and protection of the water resources to be undertaken by regional water management authorities with assigned territories designed around river basins.

The Law 58/2005 transposes into the Portuguese law the applicable European legislation on the subject, namely the Directive 2000/60/CE, of October 23, 2000, known as the EU Water Management Framework Directive, WFD, which, in fact, was the driven force for a new era in terms of the water resources management policies and practices.

The new IWRM authorities and tools According to the WL and, consequently, to the WFD, new public authorities were created and called upon to assist in the planning and execution of regulations and measures for the implementation of sustainable water use. Among these authorities the more important ones are the newly created (in October 2008) Hydrographic Region Administrations, HRAs (in number of 10), and the existing, though restructured, National Water Institute, INAG. The HRAs, like the INAG, belong to the Ministry for Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development (see fact Box) and are regional entities, specialized in the water


domain and with administrative and financial autonomies.

2000 WFD entered into force Article 22 and 25

Transpose requirements to national legislation Article 23

Define River Basin Districts/Hydrographic Regions and Authorities Article 3

2004 Characterize river basins: pressures, impact and economic analysis Article 5

2005 Identify significant trends in groundwater pollution Article 17

Establish environmental monitoring programmes Article 8

Publish and consult on a work programme for the production of the first River Basin/

/Hydrographic Region Management Plans (RBMPs/HRMPs)

Article 14

Establish environmental quality standards (EQSs) for surface water Article 16

Report monitoring programmes to the EC

Publish and consult on summary of significant water management issues (SWMI) for each

River Basin District

2008 Publish and consult on drafts of the RBMPs/HRMPs Article 14

Publish the first RBMP/HRMP for each River Basin District/Hydrographic Region Article 13

Establish programmes of measures (PoMs) in each River Basin District/Hydrographic

Region in order to deliver environmental objectives

Article 11

Report RBMPs, including PoMs to the EC

Introduce water pricing policies

Ensure all POMs are fully operational Article 11

Report progress in implementing the first RBMPs/HRMPs Article 15

2013 Review progress of the first RBMP/HRMP cycle

2015 Main environmental objectives specified in the first RBMPs/HRMPs met? Article 4

2015 Review and update first RBMP/HRMPss Articles 13, 14 and 15

Main environmental objectives specified in the second RBMPs/HRMPs met? Article 4

Review and update second RBMP/HRMPss Articles 13, 14 and 15

Main environmental objectives specified in the third RBMPs/HRMPs met? Article 4

Review and update third RBMPs/HRMPs Articles 13, 14 and 15

Article 14

Article 9

2021

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ears

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ach

ieve

sp

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fied

o

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ctiv

es

Furt

her 6

yea

rs’ p

lann

ing,

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plem

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2009

2010

2012

3 ye

ars

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rogr

amm

es o

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3 ye

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embe

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2003

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to a

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2007

Figure 2 – Water Framework Directive, WFD, implementation timetable – adapted from [2].

The HRAs became the main water resources planning authorities being responsible for promoting the so called Hydrographic Region Management Plans, HRMPs.

According to the article 29 of the Water Law the HRMPs should provide the support to the management, to the protection and to the environmental, social and economic valorization of the water resources – including the estuaries, the coastal areas and the aquifers, besides the surface waters. The HRMPs will become part of the municipal master plans, replacing the river basin plans of 2001/2002.

DistrictBorder

RH1 - Minho/LimaRH2 - Cávado/ Ave/LeçaRH3 - DouroRH4 - Vouga/Mondego/LisRH5 - Tejo/Ribeiras do OesteRH6 - Sado/MiraRH7 - GuadianaRH8 - Ribeiras do AlgarveRH9 - AçoresRH10 - MadeiraCoastal Waters

Hydrografic Regions

Figure 3 – General location of the 10 Hydrographic Region Administrations, HRAs.

Table 1 - Hydrographic Region Management Plans, HRMPs. Development and public participation

schedules.

Schedule

December/2007 Preliminary synthesis of the existing management problems (at the AHs level)

December/2008 Preliminary versions of the first HRMPs

December/2009 Conclusion of the first HRGMs

Until 2012 Implementation of the measures foreseen in the HRMPs

January/2008 Preliminary synthesis of the existing management problems (at the HRs level)

June/2009 Preliminary versions of the first HRMPs

June/2009 Environmental Report, in the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment

Dev

elop

men

t of t

he

HR

MPs

Publ

ic

part

icip

atio

n

Phase/activity


The HRMPs were conceived as multifaceted tools for the water resources planning. They shall also allow reporting to the European Commission the evolution towards the application of the WFD, in what concerns the fulfillment of the environmental objectives in 2015, and they will enable the public information.

Some of the general principles embedded in the HRMPs are:

the globality principle which foresees the integrated assessment of the technical, economic, environmental and institutional issues;

the rationality principle which states the articulation between the demand and the

Fact box

Financial Controller

National Water Council

National Council for Environment and Sustainable Development

National Commission for Waste Management

Support

Commission for the Climate Changes

National Commission for the National Ecologic

Reserve

Central Services

Department of Prospective and

Planning and International

Relations

Supervisory Authority for the Environment and

Territorial Planning

General Secretariat Portuguese Environment Agency

Directorate-General for Territoral

Planning and Urban Development

Portuguese Geographical

Institute

Peripheral Services

Regional Coordination and

Development Commission -

North



Centre


Development Commission - Lisbon

and Tagus Valley



Alentejo



Algarve

Central Organism

Water Institute

Nature and Biodiversity Conservation

Institute

Institute for Construction and

Real Estate

Financial Institute for the Regional

Development

Regulative Institute for Waters and

Waste

Chiado Reconstruction – Remainder Fund

Peripheral Organism

Hydrographic Region

Administration - North

Hydrographic Region

Administration - Centre

Hydrographic Region Administration -

Lisbon and Tagus Valley

Hydrographic Region

Administration - Alentejo

Hydrographic Region

Administration - Algarve

Parque Expo 98, S.A.

Águas de Portugal, S.A.

[AdP]Sintra Parks S.A.

Ministry for Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development. Organogram

(Decree-Law n.º 207/2006)

Stat

Indi

rect

Adm

inis

tratio

n

State entrepreneurial sector

Financial Controller

Consulting Board

Other Structures

Stat

Dire

ct A

dmin

istra

tion


offer and the safeguard of the water resources preservation;

the integration principle according to which an articulation among the regional planning, the land management and the conservation and preservation of the environment should exist;

the participation principle which states the need to involve the economic agents and of the populations as a way to enhance wider consensus.

Among other aspects, each HRMP must include a general description of the corresponding hydrographic region, a characterization of the existing pressures, both naturals and resulting from the human activity, and a program of measures envisaging the pursuit of the environmental objectives established in the Water Law. According to this Law, the plans should be object of public consultation during

the development, revision and updating phases.

Table 1 – General content of the Hydrographic Region Management Plans, HRMPs – translated

from [3].

Part 1 General description of the Hydrographic Region, HR

Part 2 Characterization of the pressures and relevant anthropogenic incidences

Part 3 Identification and characterization of the protected areas

Part 4 Assessment of the water status and monitoring networks

Part 5 Development prospective scenarios

Part 6 Economic analysis of the water utilizations

Part 7 Environmental goals

Part 8 Measures programmes

Part 9 Other mandatory information

Part 10 Public participation

Part 11 Environmental strategic assessment

Part 12 System of promotion, control and appraisal of the HRMPs

Lake waters

Water heavily modily

River water

River water

Inner water

Groundwater

Groundwater

Territorial water Transition

water

Coastal water

Coastal water

1 nautical mile A

B

Base

line

Fact box Figure 4 - Water bodies according to the WFD and to the HRMPs – adapted from [3].


While the River Basin Plans developed between 2001 and 2002 were mainly use/quantity-goal oriented, the HRMP are essentially environment/quality goal oriented

Characterization of the

hydrographic regions

Prospective scenarios

Environmental objectives

Programmes of measures

Implementation assessment

Figure 5 - The Hydrographic Region Management Plans, HRMP - adapted from [1].

Figure 6 – Evolution of the objective and of the domain from the River Basin Plans, RBP, to the

Hydrographic Region Management Plans, HRMP – adapted from [3].

For the implementation of the WFD and, accordingly, for the development of the HRMPs is indispensable the public involvement as a way:

to guaranty a more sustainable decision processes;

to ensure a better understanding of the environmental problems and of the possible contributions from the different

sectors to achieve the environmental goals;

to diminish potential conflicts caused by lack of information or of knowledge;

to increase the probability of success of the implementation of the HRMP.

The public participation process is based on three main issues:

information disclosure; public enquiry; active involvement of the stakeholders.

Active involvement of the stakeholders

Public enquiry

Information disclosure

Figure 7 – Public participation process – adapted from [3].

The public involvement is accomplished by means of meetings, brochures and advertisements in the newspaper, in the Internet and via email. All the information related with the process is available in the website of the Water Institute (electronic format) and in the documentation centre of the same Institute (paper format).

Figure 8 - Main webpage of the Water Institute with the link to the public participation in the HRMP

process. Proactive management plan

To finish it can be stated that the development of the HRMPs started a new era of proactive


management where the past and the future decisions are intertwined towards the fulfillment of the different goals, with emphasis for the environmental ones.

References This STRIVER Technical Brief was based on the following references:

[1] Brito, António Guerreiro, 5th December 2008, “A reforma institucional para a gestão da água em Portugal: as Administrações de Região Hidrográfica ... novas ferramentas para uma nova política”, Administração da Região Hidrográfica do Norte, MAOTDR. http://www.unizar.es/fnca/congresoiberico/documentos/ppt_p0402.pdf

[2]http://www.euwfd.com/html/wfd_implementation_timetable.html

[3] INAG, 2007. “Planos de Gestão de região Hidrográfica. Sessão Técnica”, Sessão Pública sobre os PGRH, 2007. http://www.aprh.pt/pdf/270607_SessaoPublica.pdf.

[4] Martins, J. E., Statement by Mr. José Eduardo Martins, Secretary of State for the Environment at the Twelfth Session of the

Commission on Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York, 29 April 2004.

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/statements/portugal_2904.pdf

[5] Nunes Correia, F, 2005, “Turning Political Commitment into Action”, Statement of Mr. Franscisco Nunes Correia, Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development at the Thirteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. United Nations, New York, 21 April 2005. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd13/statements/2104_portugal.pdf

“(…) whenever the Tagus River flows, something always happens, because a river has its own glories

and its own dramas. Like the men. A river lives, breaths, works, builds and destroys. So do the men.

But men love and fall in love (..). (…) A river has its own glories and its own dramas,

but it does not fall in love. The Tagus River does not think – it acts. It acts

according to the circumstances. It acts and it builds, it acts and it destroys. Like a man. But a man thinks

and knows the doubt.”

(Alves Redol, Portuguese writer, 1911-1969)

Figure 4 – Continuous and adaptative IWRM perspective – adapted from [3].



STRIVER TECHNICAL BRIEF Strategy and methodology for improved Integrated Water Resources Management

(IWRM) – An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins

TB No. 11

IWRM status in the Tagus basin, Spain

An overview of the main conclusions of the

STRIVER project in the Spanish part of the Tagus

Basin, regarding water availability, water alloca-

tion, water prizing, water quality and pollution,

environmental impact and ecological flows, insti-

tutional aspects, law enforcement, implementa-

tion of the EU Water Frame Directive, information

and public participation, and capacity building.




IWRM status in the Tagus basin, Spain

Santiago Beguería, Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano, J. Ignacio López-Moreno, Noemí Lana-Renault, José

María García-Ruiz. (Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones, CSIC, Spain),

António Betâmio de Almeida, Maria Manuela Portela, Marta Machado (CEHIDRO/IST, Portugal)

Abstract

An overview of the main conclusions of the STRIVER project in the Spanish part of the

Tagus Basin, regarding water availability, water allocation, water prizing, water quality

and pollution, environmental impact and ecological flows, institutional aspects, law en-

forcement, implementation of the EU Water Frame Directive, information and public par-

ticipation, and capacity building.

References

Ministerio de Medio Ambiente 1999, Plan Hidrológico de la Cuenca del Tajo, Madrid (Engl: Tagus Basin Hydrologic Plan).

Plan Hidrológico Nacional, Law 10/2001 , modified in 2004 and 2005.

Water Law29/1985, modified by Law 46/19

Introduction

This report summarizes the major outcomes of

the analysis of the status of IWRM in the Span-

ish part of the Tagus basin. The conclusions

presented on this document are based on our

own analysis of hydro-climatologic data from

public information sources and the main doc-

uments regulating IWRM in Spain (see „refer-

ences‟ above), plus the information provided

by the stakeholders during the I and II Tagus

Stakeholder Meetings and in the focus groups

meetings (see fact box 1).

A total of ten issues were selected, ranging

from natural aspects such as the water availa-

bility and quality to the institutional legal and

social framework of IWRM in the basin.

Although some of the principles of IWRM were

not accounted for in the current Basin Plan,

the new plan that is now being elaborated

represents a good opportunity for implement-

ing them.

Fact box 1

Stakeholder participation in the framework of the STRIVER project

Promoting stakeholder participation from the earliest stages of the project was a key objective in STRIVER. Thus, a

total or three stakeholder meetings were held at different stages of the project, ensuring a fluent feedback be-

tween scientists and stakeholders. The meetings, held in Toledo (December 2006), Lisbon (February 2008) and

Madrid (April 2009), brought together stakeholders from Spain and Portugal, representing several groups from the

managers to the users of water.

In addition, five focus group meetings were held in Madrid during 2008, with groups of water managers and users.

During these meetings, the participants were asked to freely discuss about a series of general topics related to

IWRM in the basin. This experience raised a series of new questions and points of view that enriched further the

information obtained by other means.


Issue 1. Water availability

A reliable estimation of the availability of regu-

lated water in a basin must be in the founda-

tions of any water resources management

plan. Performing such estimation is a highly

technical task, and must address not only the

average annual and monthly volumes, but also

the expected inter-annual oscillations and the

likelihood of extreme events. It must also pro-

vide future scenarios associated to different

likelihoods, provided the current knowledge

about possible changes in the climate system

and also in the land uses in the basin.

At this respect, the water allocation scheme in

the Tagus Basin Hydrologic Plan is based on

long-term average values, and neither the in-

ter-annual variability nor the likely future

trends are considered in an explicit manner.

Adaptation of the plan to the specific circums-

tances of each year is done following an heu-

ristic approach based on experience.

The influence of changes in land use and land

cover in the headwaters is another issue not

considered in the Basin Plan, although there

are evidences of its importance in other Ibe-

rian basins. In the Tagus, there are evidences

of an increase of the vegetation cover due to

the abandonment of traditional forest logging

activities and a decline of grazing in the head-

water areas. There are, however, no studies

about the influence of these changes on runoff

production and hence on the rivers discharge.

It is interesting to note that future problems in

water availability due to natural or semi-

natural drivers was not identified as a primary

problem by the stakeholders, despite the

scientific evidences about its importance.

Issue 2. Water allocation, includ-

ing equity issues

Guaranteeing a balanced territorial and sector

balance in the access to water is a key objec-

tive of the Tagus Basin Plan. Water allocation

in the basin is defined in the current Hydrolog-

ical Plan of the Tagus Basin and is the sole re-

sponsibility of the Tagus Basin Administration

Office. The regional governments, however,

are taking more responsibilities in the last

years, what has led to the arousal of conflicts

between regions.

Local governments such as Madrid Region,

where the expansion of urbanization and spec-

ulation with the soil is the greatest, and power

stations, play a major role in water decisions.

Active participation of the all the concerned

sectors within the basin, encouraged by the

Water framework directive and the A.G.U.A.

Programme, should balance the sectoral

weight in future water management.

As for now, the Basin Plan includes a descrip-

tion of the different water users, and they are

sorted according to their priority for water allo-

cation. There is a pre-defined water allocation

for each user that is applied during normal

conditions. In case of a hydrological drought,

limitations for water used are established, and

the priority of users is modified. Possible con-

flicts arising from the shortage of water are

usually solved at the political level, in some oc-

casions even in the State‟s parliament.

The major water pressures in the Tagus basin

are linked to the agriculture, due to both the

irrigation system in the basin (2000 Hm3/year)

and the water transfer to the Segura basin

(500 Hm3/year). Second to agriculture is the

industrial sector (1400 Hm3/year), including

refrigeration of nuclear plants. Urban con-

sumption is third (1000 Hm3/year), but it

shows a steady increase over time.

Among stakeholder groups, only the farming

organizations perceive a scarcity of water, es-

pecially during dry years. They consider that

there is a sector unbalance favoring the urban

and industrial users. In general, farmers consi-

dered that the regulation capacity should be

increased to allow further expansion of the ir-

rigated lands.

An urban model based on a high consumption

of water has led to problems of water supply in

the Madrid region. The increasing urbanization

provokes conflicts for water distribution (i.e.,

irrigation vs. urban consumption).

The water transfer Tagus-Segura represents a

complex policy of water distribution that gene-


rates many political conflicts between different

regions in Spain. During the meetings with

stakeholders, it was mentioned repeatedly as

the major problem for the Basin. In the

A.G.U.A Program water for SE Spain is sup-

plied entirely by desalinization plants, thus al-

lowing cancelling the water transfer.

Issue 3. Water prizing

The pricing of water is very low in Spain, spe-

cially for farmers and households. There are

historical reasons for this, since having an un-

limited access to water has been considered a

basic right and a symbol of progress. In the

case of irrigation water, there is a political

price in order to reduce the production costs.

It is often said that irrigated agriculture is sub-

sidized in Spain by means of keeping the prize

of water way below its real market prize. One

of the aims of the A.G.U.A Program is to fix

water pricing according to the real costs (ac-

quisition and treatment) and to the economic

benefits generated by its use.

It is expected that this measure will promote

investments in water saving technologies. In

the present moment, urban supply infrastruc-

ture and irrigation infrastructure are not well-

conserved and there are important water

leaks.

Water prizing is considered a major issue by

farmers. There is fear that increasing the wa-

ter costs to meet the market prize will be very

negative for the agricultural sector, and there

is a clear opposition to it.

Issue 4. Water quality and pollu-

tion

A major goal of the Basin Plan is to ensure wa-

ter quality for each use (especially in the case

of drinking water) and for the environment.

The Tagus Basin Administration Office has dif-

ferent systems to control water quality, such

as the SAICA (Automatic System of Water

Quality Information) system. There is also an

inventory of authorized effluent discharge

points. The “Chapter V- Water Quality and ef-

fluent discharge management” of the Hydro-

logical Plan of the Tagus Basin defines the

standards for rivers and for lakes and reser-

voirs.

However, even the members of the Tagus Ba-

sin Authority recognized during the meetings

that there are still many problems threatening

water quality in the basin. All stakeholder

groups mentioned that the water quality is low

in the middle and lower parts of the basin, and

pointed to deficient water treatment in small

towns as a major cause. There is also illegal

waste water dumping from the industry, illegal

gravel extractions and effluents from intensive

farms. According to the CHT, mentioned that

there is not enough control on water quality

due to not enough funds and resources for

monitoring and control.

Issue 5. Environmental impact

and ecological flows

One goal of the Basin Plan is to protect the

water resources altogether with the environ-

ment and other natural resources. However,

there is the perception that the minimum eco-

logical flow is not respected in many cases,

and that there is a lack of a well established

methodology for determining the ecological

flow. This last remark was also made by the

members of the CHT.

A reason given for not reaching the ecological

discharge was due to the Tagus-Segura water

transfer and to the water supply for Madrid.

There have been problems with the introduc-

tion of foreign invasive species. The current

Basin Plan does not include information on

vulnerable flora, fauna or ecosystems, nor

about geology, soils or landscape values.

There are other initiatives for protecting the

basin environment, such as the A.G.U.A Pro-

gram, the National Strategy for River Restora-

tion, the National Plan of Water quality 2007-

2015, the Action Plan for 0 Sewage, the Plan

of Priority Actions for hydrological and forestry

restoration and the Nature 2000 network.


Issue 6. Institutional aspects

(administration)

The Tagus Hydrographic Confederation (CHT)

is the main institution responsible for water re-

sources management in the Tagus basin. It

was created in 1953, and its attributions were

further consolidated by the Water Law of

1985. Its attributions are very broad, and

comprise all the aspects of IWRM.

Besides, there are other administrative offices

which share some of the attributions of the

CHT, such as the „Isabel II Canal Office‟, the

regional governments of the Madrid Region,

Castilla La-Mancha and Extremadura, and even

the local (municipal) administrations.

Although there are numerous policies and reg-

ulations on water management, one of the

main problems is that the specific responsibility

of the different administrations is not well de-

fined. There is also a lack of coordination.

During the stakeholder meetings, it was re-

peatedly mentioned that there is a lack of

coordination between areas, institutions and

policies, and that water resources manage-

ment is not considered as a global problem.

Issue 7. Law enforcement

In general, all the stakeholders shared the

common opinion that there is not enough en-

forcement of the water and environmental

laws. Members of the CHT pointed out that

there is not enough funding to effectively mon-

itor and control the huge area of the Tagus

Basin.

Issue 8. The EU Water Frame Di-

rective

The Water Framework Directive principles and

regulations should be totally accomplished by

2015. Within this new context, the Spanish

Government launched the A.G.U.A. (Actions for

the Management and Use of Water) Program,

based on the economic, social and natural val-

ue of water.

At the same time, a new Hydrological Plan for

the Tagus Basin is being elaborated, consider-

ing the principles of the Water Framework Di-

rective and ensuring an active participation of

all the concerned parts.

However, members of the Administration men-

tioned difficulties for meeting all the objectives

of the Directive in time.

Among the stakeholder groups, the farmer col-

lectives were the only ones to express their

concern about the implementation of the Di-

rective. They believed that the agricultural sec-

tor is threatened by its principles, and had the

impression that there is a lack of information

on the implementation of the Directive.

Issue 9. IWRM, information and

public participation

In general, the stakeholders expressed their

impression that the principles of IWRM are not

met in the basin. This is probably a conse-

quence of the fact that water resources man-

agement has been considered during decades

mostly a technical issue, thus controlled by

engineers.

The basic principles of IWRM (e.g. Dublin,

GWP) where not included in the 1999 Basin

Plan, although they will be included in the new

plan which is under development.

Although an effort has been made to make all

hydrological data public on the web, it is still

difficult to get information beyond the technic-

al data, so the decision-making process is not

transparent. Some users mentioned that re-

quests for information are often ignored by the

Administration.

Public participation is very low under the cur-

rent Basin Plan. Public participation was not

considered an important issue even for some

people from the Administration, who expressed

their doubts about the success of public partic-

ipation in IWRM due to sectoral and territorial

conflicts. This idea was shared by some of the

non-technical stakeholders.

However, it must be noted that public partici-

pation has already started, led by the elabora-

tion of the new Basin Plan. Actually, more than

1000 invitations have been sent to different

actors, and some meetings with stakeholders


have already been held. These included water

managers, social network, private compa-

nies/industry, end users and Institutions.

There is up-to-date information about the de-

velopment of the new Basin Plan in the web

(http://nuevoplan.chtajo.es:8080/CHTAJO/info

publica3.htm) and by brochures, and there are

information offices in Madrid and several other

cites in the Basin. All participants in the meet-

ings are informed by SMS of any new devel-

opments of the Plan.

Issue 10. Capacity building

The current Basin Plan does not have any spe-

cific plans for capacity building. However, dur-

ing the meetings it was evident that there is a

need for improving education and capacity

building. Most end users, including members

from the Administration, still perceived water

as a right, and not as limited resource. The

leading ideas of IWRM are not at all wide-

spread among the users and even among the

managers. Some groups of stakeholders, such

as the farmer organizations, expressed no spe-

cial interest in the concepts of IWRM.

http://nuevoplan.chtajo.es:8080/CHTAJO/infopublica3.htm




Fact box 2

Projected trends in water availability in the Tagus basin

The water availability in the Tagus basin is highly determined by climate variability. The figure shows the evolu-

tion of a multi-scalar drought index (Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index) calculated from pre-

cipitation and temperature data and considering three different time scales in the headwaters of the Tagus ba-

sin, which has a crucial importance in Spain since here is the point of origin of the water transfer to the Júcar

and Segura basins. The Figure also shows the anomalies (z-values) of river inflows to the Entrepeñas and

Buendía reservoir system, the reservoir storages and the releases to the Tagus river after the water transfer.

Figure shows the close relationship between the variability of the climatic drought index and the evolution of

the water resources in the region. River discharges respond to high-frequency droughts but reservoir storages

respond to the long-term patterns of climate variability. The response of the releases to the climate variability

is lower, mainly since the beginning of the 1980 decade, as a consequence of the increase in the transferred

water. Since 1980 the drought periods have increased in frequency and severity, explaining most of the trends

in the water resources.

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

z-v

alu

es

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

3-months SPEI

Inflows

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

z-v

alu

es

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

40-months SPEI

Reservoir storages

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

z-v

alu

es

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

48-months SPEI

Releases

Given the high relationship between climate variability and water resources in the Tagus basin, there is high

uncertainty about the future availability of water resources in the future given the prediction of the Climate

Change Models. Despite moderate variations among climate models, all projections point to a consistent de-

crease in precipitation and a marked increase of temperature in the basin. Such changes may lead to decline

the water resource available in the basin up to 17% by 2060 compared to current conditions (Ayala-Carcedo,

2003*).

*Ayala-Carcedo, F.J.(2003). Impactos del Cambio Climático sobre los recursos hídricos en España y viabilidad

física y ecológica del Plan Hidrológico Nacional 2001. En Arrojo y Del Moral eds. La Directiva Marco del Agua:

Realidades y Futuros. Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua, Zaragoza, 253-271


Fact box 3

The Tajo-Segura water transfer

The water transfer Tagus-Segura, started in 1978, supplies water to the irrigated areas in southeast Spain. The

original plans estimated a volume of water transfer of about 1100 hm3 per year, but in practice only seldom the

volume exceeded 500 hm3 per year. The Figure shows the spatial location of the Water transfer system, from

the reservoirs of Entrepañas and Buendía in the headwaters of the Tagus basin to the Mediterranean basins of

the Júcar and the Segura.

The source of the water transfer is Bolarque reservoir, from where the water is pumped to La Bujeda reservoir,

which is used as an upper reservoir (7 million cubic metres) of the Altomira power station. The channel flows

into the Alarcón reservoir, in the Júcar basin, in the vicinity of which, and by means of an inflow-outflow sys-

tem, the other stretch of channel runs into the Talave reservoir, now in the Segura River Basin. The transporta-

tion of the resources to the basin occurs physically by means of a canal with a capacity of 33 m³/s, which theo-

retically would be enough to transfer the above-mentioned 1,000 million cubic metres per year in a continuous

flow. Inside the basin, the infrastructures permit the distribution of these transferred resources to their differ-

ent areas of use. The evolution of the transferred flows between 1978 and 2003 is also shown. There were

high increases of the water transfers from 1995 until now.

X Data

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Wate

r tr

ansfe

r (H

m3)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

The volume of water transfer must be approved year by year (and even month by month or season by season

during dry years) by the Spanish Government, according to the volume of water stored in the Entrepeñas and

Buendía reservoirs. Nevertheless, the water transfer from the Tagus river has encountered strong opposition

from the regional government and farmers of Castilla-La Mancha, since they maintain that during the dry years

there was no water surplus in the Tagus upper basin. The recent 2005-2006 drought caused minimum reser-

voir storages in the Entrepeñas and Buendía system and controversial political decisions to approve the transfer

under this extreme condition. Several citizen demonstrations in both Tagus and Segura basins, in favour and

against the water transfer, respectively were recorded that year.


Fact box 4

The Tagus Wordle

The „Tagus Wordle‟ art has been constructed from the transcription of the interviews held with different focus

groups in the Basin. A computer program selected the key words based on their prominence, and placed them

randomly. The font size is proportional to the number of occurrences of the word, so the resulting word cloud

can be seen as a „conceptual map‟ of the meetings.


The STRIVER Policy and Technical Brief series translate the results from the project into practical and useful information for policy makers and water managers. The Briefs are also available online: www.striver.no About STRIVER STRIVER- Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An inte-grated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins is a three year EC funded project 2006-2009 under the 6th framework programme (FP6) coordinated jointly by Bioforsk and NIVA. The point of departure for STRIVER is the lack of clear methodologies and problems in operationalisation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as pointed out by both the scientific and management communities.13 partners from 9 countries participate as contractual partners in addition to an external advisory board. Title of project: Strategy and methodology for improved IWRM - An integrated interdisciplinary assessment in four twinning river basins (STRIVER) Instrument: SUSTDEV-2005-3.II.3.6: Twinning European/third countries river basins. Contract number: 037141 Start date of project: July 2006 Duration: 36 months Project funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Disclaimer The information provided and the opinions given in this publication are not necessarily those of the authors or the EC. The authors and publisher assume no liability for any loss resulting from the use of this report. Editors: Per Stålnacke and Udaya Sekhar Nagothu (Bioforsk) Launch-date: 30 June, 2009


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