The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), reveals that Europe has so far concentrated on increasing the supply of water rather than exploring ways to limit its demand.
As a result, Southern Europe in particular is experiencing chronic water scarcity, but parts of the north are also under growing water stress, the EEA alleges. Climate change will only exacerbate the situation, it adds.
As people's incomes grow, activities like tourism can significantly increase water use during summertime, when water resources are most scarce, the report says. Taking Spain's Júcar River Basin as an example, it points out that 55 new golf courses are planned there in addition to the existing 19. Each golf course typically uses 500,000 m3 of water. On top of this, huge amounts of water are needed to fill up swimming pools for tourists, the EEA adds.
According to the agency, turning these courses into agricultural land would not use less water, but would bring far fewer economic returns. What Europe needs is "a sustainable, 'demand-led' approach to water resource management, focusing on conserving water and using it more efficiently," it concludes.
The report lists a number of efficient government policies to reduce water consumption, identifying making sure people pay for water according to volume as a first step, because in the past, EU agricultural policy in particular has subsidised unsustainable use.
Installing water meters in homes has already been proven an efficient means of reducing consumption in England and Wales, while modern domestic appliances can reduce water needs for acativities like flushing the toilet, which accounts for 25-30% of domestic water use alone, the report says.
But the agency does not stop here. Raising awareness is crucial in changing habits and lifestyles, it adds. Also, educating farmers on the right choice of crops and irrigation methods can substantially reduce agriculture's contribution to water stress, as the sector currently uses 24% of the water extracted in the EU.
Furthermore, investing in better leakage detection systems and repairs could bring down the staggering 40% water loss rate in some parts of Europe which is caused by such problems, the report states. It also notes that illegal abstraction of water is a major problem in parts of Europe and therefore requires effective surveillance and penalty systems.
"The short-term solution to water scarcity has been to extract ever greater amounts of water from our surface and groundwater assets. Overexploitation is not sustainable. It has a heavy impact on the quality and quantity of the remaining water as well as the ecosystems which depend on it. We have to cut demand, minimise the amount of water that we are extracting and increase the efficiency of its use," said Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Energy Agency.
