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Agriculture and water use in the European Union: challenges and

solutions

2nd of June, Ohrid

Eduard Nedelciu, CEEweb for Biodiversity

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• 65 Member Organizations

• 20 countries in CEE

• Based in Budapest

• Has been active in biodiversitypolicy for 20

• RDWG

• CAP policy reviews

CEEweb for Biodiversity

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Water and agriculture • In Europe, agriculture accounts on average to 24% of the

total water abstraction, though in S. Europe it can reach up to 80% (EEA, 2009)

• In contrast, in Western Europe half of water abstraction goes to energy as cooling water. The difference is that almost 100% of the water used for cooling is restored to water body vs. 30% from agriculture

• Irrigation is responsible to almost all water abstraction for agriculture in S. Europe; over-abstraction is often common

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Water scarcity • Water use in agriculture has increased during the last two

decades: low prices, the Common Agricultural Policy’s subsidies to water intensive crops, inefficient technologies

• Energy crops also have the potential to further increase water demand in the sector

• Water use levels have now stabilised across EU but at a high level. Water demand is however expected to increase by 16% by 2030 in a business as usual scenario (EU Commission 2015)

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Water abstraction

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• Agriculture abstraction from both surface waters and groundwater sources

• Many of the Southern European Member States (MSs) confront with saltwater intrusion in their groundwater bodies (e.g. in Cyprus 63%)

• Groundwater levels decreased – in part also through a policy that enacted pricing for water abstracted from reservoirs but not from aquifers

• Also, natural marsh areas have been depleted

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Salt water intrusion in Europe

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Climate change

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• Droughts alone have cost the EU an estimated EUR 100 billion over the last three decades and the number of people and areas affected by drought increased by 20% for the same period (EU Commission 2014)

• Climate change will exacerbate not only droughts but also other extreme events such as extreme temperatures and flooding

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Pollution

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• Pollution from agriculture is a major pressure on the quality of ground and surface waters in the EU

• Diffuse pollution from agriculture provides about 30-40% of the nitrogen load and 50-60% for the phosphorus load in the Danube river

• Agriculture alone contributed about 80% of the reported total diffuse load in the Baltic Sea

• Negative impacts on water quality and threat to species and ecosystems in the European seas

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EU Policies - CAP

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Through the article 39 of the Treaty of Rome adopted in 1957, CAP has had five objectives:1. Increase production by promoting technical progress2. Ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural

community3. Stabilise markets4. Assure availability of supply5. Ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices

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© European Commission 2014

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CAP post-2013

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The post-2013 CAP reform was expected with a lot of enthusiasm byenvironmentalists as it promised more funds for the greening of EUagriculture and a much stronger emphasis on Europe’s ruraldevelopment. Also, it was the first time in history when the EuropeanParliament (EP) acted as a co-legislator for the reform’s legalcommitments, together with the EC

The CAP’s overall policy objectives were seen as viable food production;sustainable management of natural resources and climate action; andbalanced territorial development. Building on this, the reform’sobjectives were to enhance competitiveness, improve sustainability andprovide for greater effectiveness.

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EU Policies – Water Framework Directive• Adopted in 2000 as the unified water policy of the

Community

• Legal framework to protect and restore clean water across Europe and ensure its long-term, sustainable use

• Introduced a number of key aspects: River Basin Management Plans (RBMP), good water status by 2015 (both chemical and ecological), intercalibration

• Targets will not be achieved, but significant progress has been made

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Progress on WFD

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CAP at present Some measures from the CAP indirectly contribute to tackling agriculture-related water issues:

• Modernisation of agricultural holdings

• Agri-Environmental schemes (differ from MS to MS)

• Protection of the local genetic pool

• Buffer strips

• Ecological Focus Area (but controversial)

• Education and training

• European Innovation Partnership (EIP)

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WFD at present • The introduction of pricing for the use and distribution of

fresh water and the treatment of wastewater – must reflect the true costs. Some European countries have already implemented this strategy. Nonetheless, in less-developed areas it is possible that pricing will not be implemented, or that basic services will be provided at a reasonable price (European Commission 2015)

• Several indicators to monitor water use and water pollution from agriculture have been developed or are currently under development

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The need for stronger synergies (I) • Policy synergies are clearly needed in the EU if water

issues are to be tackled

• Great potential in the agriculture sector, which is not only one of the biggest water consuming sector – it is EU’s single most expensive policy (almost 40%)

• Little progress, isolated projects

• Some of CAP measures from Pillar 2 (NRDPs) indirectly address water use issues

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The need for stronger synergies (II) • Modifications to the current instruments (crosscompliance and rural

development) or, where appropriate, new instruments capable of meeting EU water goals and tackling significant water pollution (including micropollutants) and over-abstraction challenges;

• European Commission should inquire the MSs to implement pollution prevention and control measures at the source of its generation, and has the methodology to measure the evolution of the pressures placed on water by agricultural practices in the MSs;

• Regulatory and voluntary stewardship approaches to drive real change where the CAP budget secures delivery of public goods

(EU Water Alliance 2014)

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Monitoring In the light of the 2013 CAP reform, CEEweb carriedout a study on the performance of NRDPs in Centraland Eastern Europe. Our overall conclusions are thatPillar 2 has indeed contributed to the implementationof a number of schemes supporting environmentalprotection and provision of ecosystem services but lackof systematic monitoring and evaluation of thesesschemes makes it difficult to assess the actualcontribution of such measures. Also, the performanceof NRDPs across CEE varied greatly across the region– their designation and implementation is usually alargely autonomous process of the MSs

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Progress on agri-water indicators SEBI 009 – critical load exceedance for nitrogen

SEBI 016 – freshwater quality

SEBI019 – agriculture: nitrogen balance

SEBI 022 – aquaculture: effluent water quality from finfish

farms

AEI 5 – mineral fertilizer consumption

AEI 7 – Irrigation

AEI 20 – Water abstraction (U)

AEI 27 – Water quality: nitrate and pesticide pollution (U)

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MS case studies – Spain • In Spain the area irrigated by gravity decreased from

1.4 million ha to 1 million ha in only 6 years, between2002 and 2008. Over the same period, dripirrigation increased from 1.1 million hectares to 1.6million hectares (MARM/BPIA 2009)

• However, in the region of Valencia, Spain, studiesshowed that increase in irrigation efficiency led to atripling of the irrigation area (Candela et al 2008),which was also triggered by subsidies for dripirrigation and therefore lower prices for water use(Garcia 2002)

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MS case studies – Cyprus• Since 1965 the Government has been implementing

a Water Use Improvement Programme in parallelwith actions targeting an increased water availability. Farmers were provided with technical and financialassistance for the installation of low to mediumpressure irrigation systems and the application ofproper irrigation schedules

• By 2009, the programme was implemented in 95%of the irrigation area leading to an overall waterefficiency >80%

(Techneau 2009)

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MS case studies – France• In the Midi-Pyrenees region of France,

some AEMs are directed to water savings• Contract to limit irrigation, amounting to

253EUR/ha/year in 7 areas of the region• The farmers might abandon abstraction

altogether or just choose to limit theabstracted amount (and the abstractionsource)

• Irrigation scheduling also in place and anextensive advisory system is in place

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Conclusions• Agriculture is a central sector in terms of water

consumption

• At present, over-abstraction, sea salt water intrusion andpollution are the main challenges. Climate change willaggravate

• Subsidies, lack of stronger inter-policy synergies and moretargeted measures through CAP need to be tackled

• An overarching pricing policy is still under developmentand will most probably be tailored according toregion/user group

• Monitoring, awareness raising, training and educationhighly important

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For more information:

nedelciu@ceeweb.orgRural Development Working Group

Thank you for your attention!