EEA: Drought and Water Overuse in Europe

Press Release Source: European Environment Agency

March 17, 2009

COPENHAGEN and ISTANBUL -- From golf courses to books, olive oil to vaccinations, all the goods and services that we rely on, together with many of our daily activities, require a vital resource: water.

A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) confirms that in many parts of Europe water use is unsustainable and provides recommendations for a new approach to managing water resources......

==========
Excerpts from PDF:

* While water for irrigation is important, a significant proportion of water use in northern countries goes to livestock consumption (drinking) and cleaning livestock housing and yard assembly areas. Across the United Kingdom, for example, the irrigation and livestock components each contribute around 50 % of the estimated 300 million m3 of water abstracted for agriculture each year (Defra, 2006).

*Generally, the use of water for livestock in the north occurs in areas with sufficient rainfall, where water stress is rare. As a consequence, this chapter focuses on water use for crop irrigation, particularly in southern Europe where it predominates and its adverse impacts are most marked.

Source: Drought and Water Overuse in Europe

Link: European Environment Agency (EEA)
Link: Majority of Europeans believe quality and quantity of water is a serious problem
Link: Selfish Use Of Rivers Threatens Political Stability
Link: The Ecological Consequences of Meat Consumption: 'One could shower every day for a year with the same amount of water needed to produce one kilo of meat'
Link: Water resources across Europe — confronting water scarcity and drought


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
EEA: Everything about fresh water in Europe (en)
Jewish Group urges dietary shifts on 'World Water Day' to alleviate severe Israeli drought (en)
World Water Day - 22 March 2009 (en)
Action Needed To Avoid World Water Crisis, U.N. Says (en)
FACTBOX-Key facts on the world's water supply (en)
USA: Jewish Group urges Jewish Community to respond to global environment threats (en)
USA: Big Business urged to ax risk by cutting water use (en)
'One kilogram of meat equals 10 square kilometers of forest plus 15 million liters of water' (en)
Thirsty Planet -- World heads for 'water bankruptcy', says Davos report (en)