Spain's Drought Crisis: Threats to Agriculture and Water Resources

Catalonia, a region in northeast Spain, is facing a massive drought that has forced the implementation of water rationing, seawater desalination, and recycling of effluent from sewage treatment plants. The drought has caused agricultural lands to become parched and cracked, putting regional harvests of olives, grapes, rice, and fruit at serious risk. The situation is exacerbated by chronic overuse of water reserves and climate change-related problems. The local water company has begun processing seawater in desalination plants and recycling wastewater, but these solutions are energy-intensive and threaten to further deplete water levels. The dire situation requires hard choices, including a fundamental shift in thinking about climate change.