21 June 2006News 24
Summer has still to make its official start in Europe, yet many countries are sweating - and it has less to do with the immediate temperature than out of worry for their water supplies.
If the sun god Apollo decides to put on a show similar to the heat wave that held western Europe in a molten grip in 2003, half a dozen countries are on course for water shortages that will be socially disruptive and economically costly, experts and officials say.
Southern Spain, south-eastern England and western and southern France are viewed as chronically vulnerable, while eyes are anxiously following water availability in parts of Portugal, Italy and Greece, incompletely recovered from the scorcher of three years ago.
Drought conditions
Several years of above-average temperatures, below-average rainfall and extraction of water for farms, holiday homes and population densification are driving the big crunch.
"You're talking about the ideal conditions for a drought, of a lack of water and rising temperature," said Carlo Lavalle, an expert in risk analysis at the European Union's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy.
In Spain, reservoirs and water tables are at their lowest levels in 10 years, failing to recharge after last year's drought, which was the worst since reliable record-keeping began in 1947.
The worst exposed region is the south, which has developed fast in the past two decades with thirsty irrigated crops, golf courses and tourist resorts.
10 weeks of intense rain needed
In south-eastern England, reserves of water are only at 54% of capacity, after the driest winter since 1963-4.
Specialists say 10 weeks of intense rain are needed to redress the balance; a damp May, which gave twice that month's average rainfall, has not even made a significant dent in the problem.
As a result, drought orders and other restrictions have been issued to 13 million people for the first time in this region in 11 years, amounting to bans on hosepipes, sprinklers, car washing, the filling of swimming pools and other non-essential uses.
Alternative sources of water
Local suppliers are scrambling for alternative sources, looking at the possibility of transporting water by tanker ship from Scotland and Norway - and even of building a desalination plant for London.
In France, the authorities have for months been building public awareness that the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions face big problems of water scarcity.
On June 7, agriculture minister Dominique Bussereau revived a national drought committee to monitor water availability for farms. Water restrictions have already begun in rural areas of the Charente-Maritimes and Deux-Sevres department in the west, and in the Tarn department, in the south-west.
'Water stressed'
In Italy, most of the country has still to recover from the 2003 drought, a smaller version of which hit northern regions again in 2005. The country is officially classified along with Cyprus, Italy and Spain as "water-stressed," meaning that withdrawal of water is 20% more than totally available supplies.
In Portugal, 2005 brought the worst drought in 60 years, prompting the government to propose a programme of dam construction and improved water management.
The 2003 drought hit continental central and western Europe for much of July and August that year.
It inflicted economic costs, mainly in shrivelled crops and burned forests, of more than €12bn, according to the European Commission. The heat wave also cost tens of thousands of lives, principally among the elderly and poor in health.
Global warming
Ronan Uhel, head of spatial analysis at the European Environment Agency (EAA) in Copenhagen, said the data pointed to a trend that had been continuing for at least a decade - and global warming is a clear factor.
"Summers are getting hotter, demand for water is increasing and at the same time, rainfall is decreasing," he said.
The shift in precipitation has been especially felt in the Iberian peninsula, western France, southern Britain and Ireland, which get their rainfall from the warm, moist winds off the Atlantic.
On the other hand, northern latitudes and central and eastern Europe, as well as northern Britain, have had normal or even above-average rainfall this year.
