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The basins with the most significant water stress are particularly vulnerable to climate change and will become more so as this phenomenon progresses. Therefore, it is necessary to anticipate the impacts and take preventive adaptation measures to ensure optimal water resource management and strengthen the resilience of these systems in the face of emerging climate challenges.

This is the primary reflection made by Clara Estrela-Segrelles and Miguel Ángel Pérez-Martín, researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), belonging to the Research Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA), in collaboration with Professor QJ Wang from the University of Melbourne, in their study on the impact of climate change in watersheds with high water stress, published in the scientific journal Water.

The article details adaptation in water management in river basins that already experience high water scarcity, using the Júcar River Basin District as a case study.

"The Mediterranean is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world: climate change models predict a reduction in natural water resources of between 20% and 35% by the end of the century due to an increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation of around 10% and 20% respectively," point out the authors of the study.

These are the measures proposed.

To address this problem, water scarcity rates are proposed as effective tools for analysing the sustainability of water resource systems and defining measures to adapt their management to climate change.

In the case of the Júcar Hydrographic Demarcation, the expected reduction in current natural water resources is between 20% and 27%. In this context, specific measures to adapt water management to climate change are presented, such as "increasing the use of recycled water generated in the coastal strip from 20% to 50%, i.e. from 91 hm3/year to 230 hm3/year, increasing the current efficiency of irrigation from 54% to 80% and slightly increasing the desalination of seawater in some specific cases", explains Clara Estrela-Segrelles, the lead researcher of the article.

In addition, it is proposed to fully develop the current interconnections between water resources systems and implement renewable energies through an innovative and sustainable approach, allowing the use of power supplied by photovoltaic systems to mobilise resources from the generation area to the consumption area, as explained by Professor Miguel Ángel Pérez Martín.

This research underlines the need to focus on integrated and proactive management of water resources and implement collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to tackle the impact of climate change in river basins.

"With proper development of the proposed measures, it is expected that highly stressed basins will be able to effectively adapt to the emerging climate challenges and ensure sustainable water availability for future generations," conclude the research authors.

Reference

Estrela-Segrelles C, Pérez-Martín MÁ, Wang QJ. Adapting Water Resources Management to Climate Change in Water-Stressed River Basins—Júcar River Basin Case. Water. 2024; 16(7):1004. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16071004