Assessment and Actions to Support Integrated Water Resources Management of Seville (Spain)

Abstract

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) of the city of Seville, Spain, located in the southern Guadalquivir River Basin is assessed applying the city blueprint approach (CBA). The trends and pressures framework identifies five major indicators reflecting ‘concern’ for Seville’s urban water management: heat island effect, urban drainage flooding, river peak discharges, unemployment rate and economic pressure. The results indicate increased daytime and night-time temperatures and increased urban flooding due to sealed soil, and river rise from regional precipitation under climate change. The financial pressures are driven by the high unemployment rate and the low per capita income compared to other cities assessed. The city blueprint framework identifies three categories reflecting ‘poor’ performance for the urban water management of Seville: water infrastructure, solid waste and climate adaptation. An aging sewer network, low operational cost recovery and combined-sewer overflow systems dominate. Solid waste management is characterized by high waste generation, low recycling rate and minimal energy recovery. The percentage of green space is low, but growing. The Governance Capacity Framework identifies five conditions reflecting ‘limited’ governance of water scarcity: awareness, useful knowledge, continuous learning, agents of change and financial viability. The assessment of water governance reflects a low citizens’ sense of urgency. Integrating citizens and stakeholders in a more participative governance will result in increased awareness of economic efforts required to face water scarcity, renewal of water infrastructure and climate adaptation. The blue city index (BCI) of Seville is 5.8/10, placing it highly among other Mediterranean cities, and in the top 20% of 125 cities assessed worldwide. Application of the CBA to the urban water resources of cities allows clear definition of water and resource management challenges and is the first step to becoming a ‘water smart’ city.