PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Drinking water scarcity and quality is of increasing concern to industrialised countries, while being an important pillar of many national and international commitments. Water demand across Europe has steadily increased over the past 50 years, partly due to population growth. This has led to a 24% decrease in renewable water resources per capita. Around 88.2% of Europe’s freshwater use comes from rivers and groundwater, which are extremely vulnerable to threats posed by over-exploitation, land use changes, pollution and climate change.
Water scarcity can also emerge from acute water quality issues. In Europe, most drinking water suppliers use chlorine as a disinfectant, which reacts with natural organic matter in untreated water to produce carcinogenic trihalomethanes (THMs). A 2020 study found that while average levels of THMs in drinking water were below the EU regulatory limits in all Member States, maximum levels were exceeded in nine countries, including Spain.
The EU Water Framework Directive states that areas designated for the abstraction of water intended for human consumption should be protected. However, land use is not regulated. In Europe, many of these water abstraction points are located in natural or planted forests and forest management strategies impact water resources. Moreover, timber harvesting activities using machinery have a great impact on the hydromorphology of the catchment area, resulting in increased nutrients, water temperatures and sediment loads in streams (Baillie, 2015).OBJECTIVES
The LIFE URBASO project aims to show that high-quality water yield with reduced sediment load, THMs and PTAs can be maintained through careful planning and adequate forest management of the upslope areas of drinking water abstraction points. It will develop its approach in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve where 39 abstraction points are located in forested areas, of which 13 are in pine and eucalypt plantations.
LIFE URBASO will thus demonstrate an innovative methodology for improving the quantity and quality of raw water through land use management using nature-based solutions. The main objective is to protect areas for abstraction points of water for human consumption as set out in Article 6 of the Water Framework Directive.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- A methodology for safeguard zone delineation;
- The definition of protocols for multi-purpose forest management and bracken elimination;
- 15% increase in water yield by changing forest cover to deciduous species in the upslope areas;
- 25% reduction of suspended sediments and turbidity in raw waters due to decreased soil erosion through the conversion to continuous cover forestry and low impact site preparations;
- 10% reduction of DOC concentration and the potential formation of THMs due to forest canopy transformation.
- Reduction of ptaquiloside in raw waters and generation of a baseline of this compound, which is not currently regulated;
- 35% increase in biodiversity in terms of the number of species, and structural diversity thanks to conversion of monospecific plantation forests into mixed natural forests;
- 5% reduction of water treatment cost;
- Improved public health and quality of life by the reduction of THMs and PTA in raw waters;
- Replication in 259 drinking abstraction zones supply a million inhabitants in the Basque Country;
- New methods of land stewardship to assure the management of forests to provide multiple benefits;
- New guidelines transferred to policy-making bodies to be implemented in the drinking water protection policy; and
- Safeguard zone delineation and forest management guidelines transferable to mountainous EU drinking water abstraction zones.
