Towards sustainable irrigated Mediterranean agriculture: implications for water conservation in semi-arid environments

Water scarcity is a threat to food production systems, with appropriate water management being a major part of the solution. From the adoption of the European Water Framework Directive to the latest proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy Horizon 2020, the strategic lines for establishing a balance between agriculture and water resources in the European Union have been defined, including an emphasis on water pricing. This paper discusses the situation of irrigated agriculture in semi-arid areas such as southern Spain in terms of water scarcity, highlighting the main advantages and disadvantages of water-pricing policies as a solution to more sustainable irrigation management.