Abstract
As one of the world’s driest regions, water scarcity critically affects the Mediterranean countries on their physical and socioeconomic conditions. The amount of water available per person is expected to fall by 2050 by more than half due to demographic growth and climate change trends. With agriculture accounting for using more than 80% of freshwater, a low water use efficiency, and the discharges of domestic, industrial, and agriculture wastewater leading to deterioration of water quality, together with the effects of the climate change, it is clear that more integrated approaches to water management are required. The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is the most promising perspective to cope with this intricate problem. But, as usual, a big problem is also a big opportunity to address fundamental changes in the human behavior and its societal model. The long-term strategy for water in the Mediterranean has to face the risks and to define the actions and opportunities for the water use in most of the human activities and, accordingly, its management in the area.
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Acknowledgments
Authors are grateful to FP6 EU Project INCO-CT-2006-517612-MELIA for its support.
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Rodríguez-Clemente, R., Hidalgo, A. (2012). Identifying Risks, Actions, and Opportunities for a Long-Term Water Strategy in the Mediterranean. In: Choukr-Allah, R., Ragab, R., Rodriguez-Clemente, R. (eds) Integrated Water Resources Management in the Mediterranean Region. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4756-2_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4756-2_13
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