Case Study 1: Matarraña River Basin - Euwareness

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The middle river basin The Matarraña middle river basin has more water demands than the higher one. This is so because of two reasons. On the one hand, the two main villages in the middle river basin, that is Maella and Mazaleón, concentrate at about 47% of the irrigated land in the whole river basin. This is an important percentage, especially if we consider that irrigation consumes 90% of the total water needed in the Matarraña river basin. On the other hand, along the seventies and mid eighties, peach crop, which needs high quantities of water, was introduced in the middle river basin and familiar production became industrialised. Nowadays, most peach crops are concentrated in the middle river basin. For instance, the municipality of Maella produces around 5.5 million Kg. fruit every year, out of a total of 12 million in the whole river basin. The extension of fruit crop along the middle river basin has increased water demands in this area over the last years and, consequently, the area has become more vulnerable to scarcity problems, especially in dry years. The concentration of most irrigation lands in the middle river basin has had the effect of making users from the middle river basin being dominant in the institutions representing users in the river basin, namely the Central Union of Irrigation Communities in the Matarraña river. As they have a dominant position in the river basin, they have a higher influence in the decisions taken by the Central Union in order to face scarcity problems. This has provoked conflicts with the higher and the lower river basin. With the former, the middle basin has traditionally been in favour of regulating the river by means of hydraulic works that had to be located in the head of the river. With the later, the middle basin has been accused by users in the lower basin to prioritise the irrigation of lands located in the middle basin. The lower river basin The Matarraña river in its lower basin is wider than it is in its head, but often suffers the consequences of severe scarcity problems. As farmers in the higher and middle river basin, some farmers in the lower basin rooted the traditional dry crops out —mainly olive and vineyards— and started planting peaches in small areas of land in the late sixties and along the seventies. These plantations were enlarged along the seventies and early eighties, but a severe draught in 1986 left Nonaspe lands with no water during seven months. Since then, problems of water scarcity have been constant. 7
Nowadays, due to the problems of water scarcity, many crops have been abandoned or rooted out. It is estimated that in Nonaspe around 60-70% of the land is now uncultivated. In addition, the ageing of population constitutes an additional limit to continue cultivating lands. To sum up, two main factors condition the use of water in the higher, middle and lower river basin: the severity of water scarcity problems and the level of influence in the river basin decision making processes. These factors are crucial in order to understand the balances and unbalances between actors and uses at the river basin. The following table summarises the intensity of both of them in the three areas. Water scarcity and level of influence of the higher, middle and lower river basin Severity of water scarcity problems Level of influence The higher basin low low The middle basin middle - high high The lower basin high low 8
Page 1 and 2: euwareness spain Case Study 1: Mata
Page 3 and 4: Index Introduction 1. Case demarcat
Page 5 and 6: 1. Case demarcation The Matarraña
Page 7: Even though the Matarraña river ba
Page 11 and 12: In cases of water scarcity, and con
Page 13 and 14: The production of peaches has consi
Page 15 and 16: Industry Annual net needs for cattl
Page 17 and 18: problem of which is water supply gu
Page 19 and 20: 3. Regulative system and de facto u
Page 21 and 22: Concessions can be: Central users c
Page 23 and 24: Mazaleón Maella Fabara Nonaspe Ari
Page 25 and 26: Use rights and practices Some uses
Page 27 and 28: circumstance, the irrigation commun
Page 29 and 30: Both the dominance of the middle ba
Page 31 and 32: water. Some measures have been take
Page 33 and 34: and the Central Government. Apart f
Page 35 and 36: The regional government of Aragon (
Page 37 and 38: Within the Central Union, the irrig
Page 39 and 40: Experts Independent experts, mostly
Page 41 and 42: Local governments Central Union Irr
Page 43 and 44: Aug - Adoption of the 29/85 Water A
Page 45 and 46: Subphase 1: 1902 - 1930 First regul
Page 47 and 48: continue to be constructed all over
Page 49 and 50: epresents the emergence of a social
Page 51 and 52: of the affected by the expropriatio
Page 53 and 54: Meanwhile, meetings held between th
Page 55 and 56: Torre del Compte Dam Location High
Page 57 and 58: While the CHE still waited for a re
Page 59 and 60:
Claims for water supply for irrigat
Page 61 and 62:
Dimensions of integrated governance
Page 63 and 64:
Regarding the regulative system, bo
Page 65 and 66:
8.2. Towards sustainability? The ex
Page 67 and 68:
REFERENCES ARROJO, P.; GRACIA, J.J.
Page 69:
EUWARENESS is a research project on
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Case Study 1: Matarraña River Basin - Euwareness

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