Water-resource stress on the Spanish Costa del Sol: Policy requirements to improve supply security

Abstract

The Costa del Sol, in common with many Mediterranean (and similar) coastal areas, is having to face increasing water-resource stress as a result of global warming and land-use change, coupled with extremely high peak water demand resulting from large tourist numbers and summer climatic factors. An assessment is presented of current water-supply provision, possible measures to enhance the resilience of the water-supply system (focusing on improved use of groundwater storage), and the institutional challenges confronting their implementation.