Water Exploitation and Shortages: A Growing Concern Across Europe

As temperatures continue to rise each year, droughts become more frequent, and pressure on water resources increases, issues related to water exploitation and scarcity are becoming increasingly critical.

The Water Exploitation Index Plus (WEI+) helps in understanding the level of water scarcity by measuring total water consumption as a percentage of the available renewable freshwater resources for a given territory and period. Values exceeding 20% are generally considered a sign of water stress, while values above 40% indicate severe water scarcity.

In 2022, the EU's WEI+ stood at 5.8%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared with the year 2000. This was the highest value recorded since data collection began in 2000.

Among EU countries, Cyprus reported a WEI+ of 71.0%, indicating that freshwater resource usage was unsustainable. Back in 2000, Cyprus already had a WEI+ of 59.5%.

Malta and Romania recorded values of 34.1% and 21.0%, respectively, in 2022. Greece, Portugal, and Spain registered 13.8%, 10.1%, and 8.8%, respectively—below the 20% threshold but still above most other EU countries.

Moreover, regional differences and the severity of water scarcity during the summer months are not fully captured by these annual national averages.

In southern Europe in particular, water scarcity can be a serious issue in spring and summer, exacerbated by intense pressure on water resources due to agricultural needs, public water supply demands, and tourism.