ABSTRACT
Current sustainable water management in Mediterranean countries, especially on islands, is of great concern because of the increasing competition for water resources between agriculture and tourism, and the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires good ecological and chemical status of water bodies and associated aquatic systems. Additionally, climate change projections from atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (GCMs) forecast an increase of temperature, decrease of precipitation, and variability of extreme events under the A2 green-house gas scenario (IPCC 2001). The A2 scenario focuses on economic growth, increasing population, and CO2 emissions are the highest of all scenario families. The combined pressures of future climate change and increasing water demand requires planning strategies to preserve water resources.
