ABSTRACT
Predictions of population growth present a global challenge for meeting growing needs for food provision and poverty reduction, while guaranteeing environmental sustainability (IWMI, 2007). This challenge can only be met by providing local solutions to specific problems. Irrigated agriculture in Spain is particularly challenged, as climate change comes in conjunction with high development pressure in the most agriculturally productive areas and with sub-optimal agricultural systems in areas that offer few economic alternatives to the rural population. In the European Union (EU), evolving policies, including the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will enable better investment and management decisions in water and agriculture in the future since they set long-term policy guidelines that take into account environmental sustainability.
