Agriculture and economics in the Water Framework Directive: progress and limitations

Agriculture is having an increasing impact on water resources in Spain, both from a quantitative (consumption) and qualitative (pollution) perspective. Therefore, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) will have a great impact on this sector. In fact, new river management plans aim to reduce these pressures through the implementation of programmes of measures. These instruments will impose new requirements (costs) on farming systems and may promote the adoption of more efficient and sustainable production methods. Within this context this paper aims to analyse how this new water management plan is being developed. An economic analysis is carried out to select a programme of measures involving irrigated agriculture.

Keywords: Agriculture, Economic analysis, Irrigation, Water Framework Directive (WFD)