Water Framework Directive and Agriculture: Decision Support System to Assess Irrigation Sustainability in Southern Europe

Abstract

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes the basic principles of sustainable water policy. However, despite the WFD¿s requirements, economic instruments have not been widely used in the agricultural sector. Further progress towards the implementation of the WFD will require the development of innovative assessment tools, capable to evaluate sitespecific impacts of water pricing policies prior to their implementation. This paper presents an integrated modelling system developed to assess the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of water and agricultural policies at the local and regional level. Empirical results show that new agricultural policies could contribute to reduce the pressure on water resources.