INNOVA Ezine 2 – Valencia Region, Droughts and Agricultural Interests in a Metropolitan Area in Spain

In the metropolitan area of Valencia the water use is intense and the region suffers from frequent droughts due to climate conditions. Valencia is surrounded by an agricultural landscape with deep cultural significance and with a multi-sectoral structure in which irrigated agriculture plays an important role in the consumption of water. The Albufera Natural Park, less than 10 km south of Valencia, is a freshwater lagoon and its surroundings rice plots. Given the predicted adverse effects of climate change, it is important for the City of Valencia to develop adaptation strategies for the future climate. The mandate for the INNOVA project is to develop a climate service that satisfies the water use needs to support the distribution of potable water to its users.

The second INNOVA e-zine shows the climate and adaptation challenges the Valencia region is facing. The first issue showed the Mirror Waal project in the Nijmegen area (NL).

From awareness of upcoming flooding risks, via complex planning and design efforts into the final result. Whereas Nijmegen is far in the Adaptation Cycle; the Valencia metropolitan area is between the steps of identifying adaptation options (Step 3) and assessing these options (Step 4).