- 2 million
people living in the Canary Islands
- 1.25 million
people living in the Balearic Islands
- 12
12hm3 of annual ground water consumption in Menorca
- 2023-2028
Implementation timeline
Replicability
Transferable lessons for water management through nature-based solutions and aquifer recharge from the Spanish Islands.
Best suited for
The regions best suited to replicate projects combining treated waste water reuse, NBS and MAR are water-stressed Mediterranean and semi-arid areas where groundwater depletion, drought and seasonal water scarcity create strong incentives for integrated water management. These include regions with intensive agriculture or tourism and vulnerable aquifers, along with other arid and coastal territories facing similar pressures.
Stakeholders' role
To replicate this project in other regions, it is essential to involve a broad range of stakeholders working in a coordinated way. These typically include public authorities and regulators, water utilities and infrastructure operators, farmers and irrigation organisations, environmental agencies, researchers and technical experts, technology providers, funding bodies, landowners and local communities. Each group plays a distinct role, from planning, permitting, financing and technical design to operation, monitoring and public acceptance. Strong cooperation among these actors is crucial to ensuring that such approaches are technically feasible, environmentally safe, economically viable and socially accepted.
Built-in scalable tools
The demonstrators show several replicable elements centred on integrated water-sensitive urban design. These include the use of NBS to create multifunctional green areas that combine environmental, social and hydraulic functions, the implementation of sustainable urban drainage systems to reduce flood risk while improving water quality, and measures that enhance aquifer recharge by promoting infiltration and retention. Taken together, these elements illustrate an approach that can be transferred to other contexts where climate resilience, water management and the multifunctional use of green space are pursued jointly.
Funding pathways
NATALIE’s pilots received funding through Horizon Europe, under grant agreement ID: 101112859. In addition, the production of cost-saving evidence may generate interest in scaling up these interventions and create new investment opportunities.
