The Spanish National Irrigation Plan - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 352

Water use in agriculture in Spain
The agricultural sector is the most important user of water in the country, near 68 per
cent of the total consumption. Table 2 shows the gross water demand supplied, 23 298
Hm3 which is very near to the estimated water demand for irrigated crops, 23 520 Hm3.
The average efficiency of the irrigation bodies is very low — 60 per cent — because of
substantive water losses through old conveyance networks and extended flooding
irrigation systems. Before 2002, the starting year for PNR, 700 000 ha were irrigated by
ditches and there was a network of concrete channels, more than 60 years old, in bad
conditions through near 400 000 ha. A surface of 420 000 ha was irrigated using
groundwater from over-exploited aquifers.

Table 2. Gross demand supplied and water consumption (hm 3 ) of existing irrigation bodies
in the main river basins

Gross demand
Supplied
(m 3 /ha)

Irrigated
area
(ha)

Gross demand
supplied
(hm 3 )

Water
returns
(hm 3 )

Water
Consumption
(hm 3 )

BASIN

Galicia Costa 8.337 26.371 220 44 176

Norte 7.734 74.032 573 63 510

Duero 6.801 447.576 3.044 322 2.722

Tajo 8.262 201.336 1.663 230 1.433

Guadiana 6.657 335.590 2.234 236 1.998

Guadalquivir 6.635 602.966 4.000 505 3.495

Sur 5.620 142.457 801 75 725

Segura 6.240 276.316 1.724 157 1.567

Júcar 6.122 384.802 2.356 184 2.172

Ebro 8.033 738.662 5.934 962 4.971

Cataluña CI 5.962 67.774 404 36 368

Baleares 7.804 17.376 136 25 111

Canarias 7.147 29.379 210 27 183

TOTAL 6.965 3.344.637 23.298 2.866 20.432

Source: PNR. 2002.

Table 3 shows the origin of irrigation water sources in the Autonomous Communities.
Currently, a number of new seawater desalination plants are into execution in Andalucía,
Murcia and Valencia under the AGUA project.