Freshwater use

Setting the scene 

The 7th EAP aims to ensure that, by 2020, stress on renewable water resources is prevented or significantly reduced in the European Union (EU, 2013). This briefing presents trends in the use of freshwater resources. Water is an input to key economic sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism, and it is an essential component for preserving biodiversity and maintaining other freshwater ecosystem services such as water supply. It is therefore important that water use - as measured by the Water Exploitation Index plus (WEI+) – respects the limits of available renewable freshwater resources and that water stress be prevented or significantly reduced. For more information on WEI+ see the ‘About the indicator’ section of this briefing.

Policy targets and progress

The EU’s Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (EC, 2011) includes a milestone for 2020 that ‘water abstraction should stay below 20 % of available renewable freshwater resources’. As quantity and quality of water are closely linked, achieving ‘good’ status under the Water Framework Directive (see Surface waters briefing, AIRS_PO1.9, 2017) also requires ensuring that there is no overexploitation of water resources.

On average, over the 2002-2014 period, 12.1 % of the EU (and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) territory was affected by water stress. Water stress decreased over this period. 12.7 % of the EU (plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) area was affected by water stress in 2002 and in 2014 the affected territory was 11 % (ETC ICM, 2017).

Water stress is driven by two important factors: (1) climate, which controls availability of renewable water resources and seasonality in water supply, and (2) water demand, which is largely driven by population density and related economic activities.

While freshwater is relatively abundant in the EU (EEA, 2015), water availability and socio-economic activity are unevenly distributed, leading to major differences in water stress levels across the continent. Except in some northern and sparsely populated areas that possess abundant freshwater resources, water stress occurs in many parts of the EU, in particular in densely populated areas and the Mediterranean (Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Water Exploitation Index plus for Europe, 2002 - 2014

Source: a) The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR), Member States reporting under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 166/2006, b)  Waterbase - UWWTD: Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive – reported data, c)  Waterbase - Water Quantity, d)  European catchments and Rivers network system (Ecrins).

Note: The Water Exploitation Index Plus has been calculated at the sub basin scale on seasonal resolution and then aggregated to river basin district scale. The reference year is 2014 (Q1: January, February, March; Q2: April, May, June; Q3: July, August, September; Q4: October, November, December). The spatial reference data used when estimating the WEI+ is the ECRINS (European catchments and rivers network system). The ECRINS delineation of sub basin and river basin district differ from those defined by Member States under the Water Framework Directive, particularly for transboundary river basin districts. Click on more info to see time series in WEI+ including level of sectorial pressures over freshwater resource

Summer is the period when most water stress occurs. This is due to a combination of factors. Water availability decreases because of hotter and drier conditions, while water abstraction doubles during the summer compared with winter, because people and sectors, such as agriculture and industry, require more freshwater, e.g. for cooling and irrigation. The highest WEI+ for the 2014 summer period was estimated for Spanish and Portuguese islands, Malta and Cyprus (81 %), where tourism and recreational activities put high pressure over the renewable water resources. At the river basin district scale, the highest WEI+ for the 2014 summer period were estimated in the Jarft river basin in Poland (67 %) and in the Segura river basin in Spain (62 %).

Rivers and groundwater aquifers supply more than 80 % of the total water used in Europe annually.

Around 17 river basin districts, mainly in Spain, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Poland and the United Kingdom experienced water stress conditions during the summer months in 2014. This was because of relatively low net precipitation with large variations within and between years, combined with their inability to draw on more distant water sources, as well as intense tourism activities.

In addition, near-shore groundwater aquifers are threatened by seawater intrusion. The situation is worse in summer, when average precipitation is very low and water demand for agriculture and tourism is high. This makes water resource management, particularly on the Mediterranean islands, challenging.

Figure 2 looks in detail into water abstraction by sector. Sectorial demand on water abstraction varies among different regions in the EU. For instance, while agriculture is the main pressure on water resources in southern Europe, water abstraction for electricity cooling and public water supply are the main pressures in western Europe (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Water abstraction by sector, EU

 
Water abstraction decreased by approximately 9 % between the early 2000s (which is an average gap filled value for 1999-2001) and the latest available ‘year’ (which is an average gap filled value for 2013-2015); data availability by country and sector can be seen in WISE 3 (EEA, 2017a) and in Eurostat, 2017.

The decrease in water abstraction from the early 2000s and up to the latest available ‘year’ was mainly because of efficiency gains in electricity cooling, agriculture and public water supply. The decrease in water abstraction played a key role in the decrease in water stress observed over the period 2002 to 2014 (ETC ICM, 2017).

Looking towards 2020, while efficiency gains in water abstraction at sector level are likely to continue to improve in the period to 2020, hotspots for water stress conditions are likely to remain – primarily in Southern Europe as well as in a number of highly densely populated areas across Europe. This is because of ongoing and projected pressures from climate change – such as increasing droughts in several parts of Europe (EEA, 2017b) – increasing population and ongoing urbanisation. It therefore remains uncertain whether or not water stress can be prevented or significantly reduced across the EU. It is indeed important that water abstraction respects available renewable resource limits in order to prevent or significantly reduce water stress.

Outlook beyond 2020

The long-term vision of the 7th EAP is of an innovative economy in which natural resources are managed sustainably. This includes water resources. However, in the coming years, the consequences of various drivers and pressures including climate change, increasing population and continued urbanisation of floodplain areas will increase the likelihood of flooding, droughts and water scarcity in several regions of Europe (EEA, 2017b). There are many indications that water bodies already under stress are highly susceptible to climate change impacts, and that climate change may hinder attempts to restore some water bodies to good status (EEA, 2017b and ETC ICM, 2017).

If the area under water stress is to be reduced, additional improvements to water efficiency in all sectors will be needed. However, water efficiency improvements alone are unlikely to be sufficient to offset all the additional impacts of climate change on water scarcity in the future. It is therefore likely that water stress will continue to increase beyond 2020.

About the indicator

The WEI+ indicator aims to illustrate water use. It shows the percentage used of the total renewable freshwater resources available. A WEI+ above 20 % implies that a water resource is under stress, and more than 40 % indicates severe stress and clearly unsustainable use of the resource (Raskin et al., 1997).

WEI+ data are available at fine spatial (e.g. sub-basin or river basin) and temporal (monthly or seasonal) scales to better capture local and seasonal variation in the pressure on renewable freshwater resources. The indicator focuses on water quantity. For some aspects of freshwater quality, see the Surface waters briefing (AIRS_PO1.9, 2017).

Data on water use have been derived from various sources such as WISE 3, EPRT-R (EEA, 2017c), UWWTPs (EEA. 2017d) and Eurostat water data (Eurostat, 2017), which have been integrated into the EEA water accounts production database.

For further information on the methodology of the WEI+ see EEA, 2017e and ETC ICM, 2017.