The Review of the European Water Scarcity and Droughts Policy emphasizes
that “climate change is expected to worsen the impacts of already existing stresses
on water as changes in precipitation, combined with rising temperatures, will cause
significant changes in the quality and availability of water resources”. Therefore,
the policy responses to water scarcity and drought should include adaptation
measures (European Commission 2012c). According to the results of the
ClimWatAdapt project (Flörke et al. 2011)—changes in water withdrawals will be
the main driver of the changes in future water scarcity.
2.3.1 EC Communication on Water Scarcity and Drought
The Europeans Commission’s Communication on water scarcity and drought
highlights the need for increased integration of WS&D policy and policy objectives
into existing policy frameworks. Though the Communication is written from and
for a dominantly water-oriented perspective, it also inherently touches upon
cross-cutting challenges that interact with the agricultural sector. We apply both
perspectives in our analysis of the Communication.
2.3.1.1 History, Aims and Objectives
The Water Scarcity and Drought Communication represents and captures the
milestones of EU policy to address water scarcity and drought through the
Communication Document to European Parliament and the Council, titled
“Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union”
(European Commission 2007b; Kampragou et al. 2011). The Communication was
adopted in 2008, after review. In the document, the Commission identified policy
areas to address movement towards a water-efficient economy.
The 2007 Communication offers a variety of technical and political initiatives to
mitigate the impacts of water scarcity and drought (Estrela and Vargas 2012). As
part of the policy, the 2007 Communication put forth an initial set of policy options
to address the challenges related to water scarcity and drought, with special
emphasis on pricing, land use planning and water-saving (Kampragou et al. 2011).
The 2007 Communication also sets out a number of policy options addressing to
increased drought frequencies as a result of climate change (Quevauviller 2014).
The Communication also indicated the need for prioritization of drought risk
management plans, the expansion of the European Drought Observatory, and a
more rigorous use of the EU Solidarity Fund (Kampragou et al. 2011). The 2007
Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts also address water pricing policies, advocating for ‘putting the right price tag on water’, ‘allocating water more
efficiently’ and ‘fostering water efficient technologies and practices’. These efficiency measures fit into the overall resource efficiency objective of Europe 2020.
26
U. Stein et al.
that “climate change is expected to worsen the impacts of already existing stresses
on water as changes in precipitation, combined with rising temperatures, will cause
significant changes in the quality and availability of water resources”. Therefore,
the policy responses to water scarcity and drought should include adaptation
measures (European Commission 2012c). According to the results of the
ClimWatAdapt project (Flörke et al. 2011)—changes in water withdrawals will be
the main driver of the changes in future water scarcity.
2.3.1 EC Communication on Water Scarcity and Drought
The Europeans Commission’s Communication on water scarcity and drought
highlights the need for increased integration of WS&D policy and policy objectives
into existing policy frameworks. Though the Communication is written from and
for a dominantly water-oriented perspective, it also inherently touches upon
cross-cutting challenges that interact with the agricultural sector. We apply both
perspectives in our analysis of the Communication.
2.3.1.1 History, Aims and Objectives
The Water Scarcity and Drought Communication represents and captures the
milestones of EU policy to address water scarcity and drought through the
Communication Document to European Parliament and the Council, titled
“Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union”
(European Commission 2007b; Kampragou et al. 2011). The Communication was
adopted in 2008, after review. In the document, the Commission identified policy
areas to address movement towards a water-efficient economy.
The 2007 Communication offers a variety of technical and political initiatives to
mitigate the impacts of water scarcity and drought (Estrela and Vargas 2012). As
part of the policy, the 2007 Communication put forth an initial set of policy options
to address the challenges related to water scarcity and drought, with special
emphasis on pricing, land use planning and water-saving (Kampragou et al. 2011).
The 2007 Communication also sets out a number of policy options addressing to
increased drought frequencies as a result of climate change (Quevauviller 2014).
The Communication also indicated the need for prioritization of drought risk
management plans, the expansion of the European Drought Observatory, and a
more rigorous use of the EU Solidarity Fund (Kampragou et al. 2011). The 2007
Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts also address water pricing policies, advocating for ‘putting the right price tag on water’, ‘allocating water more
efficiently’ and ‘fostering water efficient technologies and practices’. These efficiency measures fit into the overall resource efficiency objective of Europe 2020.
26
U. Stein et al.