Since drought is not yet perceived as an urgent issue in the six case study
regions, the overall awareness regarding the agricultural impacts of drought is
assessed to be low, especially in the Eifel-Rur, Vilaine, Salland and Twente cases.
This situation is also closely related to the historical context, which involves water
problems that result from too much water, i.e. floods, rather than drought and water
scarcity. Nevertheless, there is an increasing trend in terms of the awareness of the
actors that are in the mostly affected areas. These actors mainly include the individual farmers and farmers’ organizations, as observed in the cases of Flanders and
Somerset.
10.6 Conclusions
This chapter presented a diagnosis on the current state of the governance of drought
adaptation in North-west Europe from a cross-cutting perspective on agriculture.
The findings indicate both several common regional level implications, as well as
issue-specific observations for the local contexts.
Despite being a key user of freshwater resources and often sensitive to water
availability during drought periods, the agricultural sector receives a lower priority
compared to other water user sectors, which mainly include energy production and
drinking water. Pressures to monitor water withdrawals and enforce water withdrawal limitations in agriculture can be expected to intensify with increasing
demands not only from the agricultural sector, but also by cross-sectoral impacts of
other water user sectors. This competitive disadvantage can lead to water efficiency
improvements in the sector through, for instance the dissemination of water saving
and water reuse technologies. Additionally, the demand for crop insurances could
increase as well as the need for further insurance products such as cooperative
private–public insurance products.
Since agricultural production constitutes an economic sector in many areas of
North-west Europe, multiple governance levels, ranging from the local to the EU
level, interact regarding the associated water problems, including water scarcity and
drought. However, there is a clustering of the local and subnational levels, which
predominantly shape the implementation of water- and agriculture-related measures, and the EU-level measures that result from the corresponding water and
agricultural policies, i.e. the WFD and the CAP.
Although agriculture is a very vulnerable sector regarding the impacts of
drought, the essential public and political awareness on drought is limited. The
historical context of the North-west Europe region, which is dominated by events of
too much water rather than water scarcity and drought, plays a significant role in the
relatively low awareness regarding the current and future impacts of drought. In the
areas that are already affected by drought, especially the regional authorities, such
as environmental agencies and water authorities, and the farmers and their organizations carry the greatest potential in terms of improving drought awareness in
both public and political spheres.
214
G. Özerol and J. Troeltzsch
regions, the overall awareness regarding the agricultural impacts of drought is
assessed to be low, especially in the Eifel-Rur, Vilaine, Salland and Twente cases.
This situation is also closely related to the historical context, which involves water
problems that result from too much water, i.e. floods, rather than drought and water
scarcity. Nevertheless, there is an increasing trend in terms of the awareness of the
actors that are in the mostly affected areas. These actors mainly include the individual farmers and farmers’ organizations, as observed in the cases of Flanders and
Somerset.
10.6 Conclusions
This chapter presented a diagnosis on the current state of the governance of drought
adaptation in North-west Europe from a cross-cutting perspective on agriculture.
The findings indicate both several common regional level implications, as well as
issue-specific observations for the local contexts.
Despite being a key user of freshwater resources and often sensitive to water
availability during drought periods, the agricultural sector receives a lower priority
compared to other water user sectors, which mainly include energy production and
drinking water. Pressures to monitor water withdrawals and enforce water withdrawal limitations in agriculture can be expected to intensify with increasing
demands not only from the agricultural sector, but also by cross-sectoral impacts of
other water user sectors. This competitive disadvantage can lead to water efficiency
improvements in the sector through, for instance the dissemination of water saving
and water reuse technologies. Additionally, the demand for crop insurances could
increase as well as the need for further insurance products such as cooperative
private–public insurance products.
Since agricultural production constitutes an economic sector in many areas of
North-west Europe, multiple governance levels, ranging from the local to the EU
level, interact regarding the associated water problems, including water scarcity and
drought. However, there is a clustering of the local and subnational levels, which
predominantly shape the implementation of water- and agriculture-related measures, and the EU-level measures that result from the corresponding water and
agricultural policies, i.e. the WFD and the CAP.
Although agriculture is a very vulnerable sector regarding the impacts of
drought, the essential public and political awareness on drought is limited. The
historical context of the North-west Europe region, which is dominated by events of
too much water rather than water scarcity and drought, plays a significant role in the
relatively low awareness regarding the current and future impacts of drought. In the
areas that are already affected by drought, especially the regional authorities, such
as environmental agencies and water authorities, and the farmers and their organizations carry the greatest potential in terms of improving drought awareness in
both public and political spheres.
214
G. Özerol and J. Troeltzsch