Report details Spanish water quality problems

Greenpeace Spain this week published what it claims is the first ever river basin-by-river basin report into the state of Spanish water resources. The 140-page study highlights serious water quality problems and identifies reasons for delays in implementing the EU's water framework directive.

Only 11% of Spanish groundwaters and 16% of underground water resources meet the directive's quality criteria, the report concludes. It identifies industrial and urban pollution as the main culprits. But it also blames bad agricultural practices, eutrophication caused by damming and the over-exploitation of water for tourism.