On Thursday, 24 June, the Court of Justice of the European Union condemned Spain for infringing nature conservation directives—the ‘Habitats’ (92/43/EEC) and ‘Birds’ (2009/147/EC) Directives—that require it to protect groundwater bodies and natural habitats, such as temporary Mediterranean ponds, in the Doñana natural area in Andalusia (case C-559/19) (see EUROPE 12179/32).
Outside these protected areas are the most important European growing areas for soft fruit, especially strawberries. Irrigation for these crops draws significant amounts of groundwater. In certain protected areas, this abstraction exceeds groundwater recharge, a situation that has led to a decline in groundwater levels for many years.
According to the court, the 2015–2021 Guadalquivir Basin Hydrological Plan does not contain all the information necessary to determine the impact of human activity on groundwater bodies in the Doñana region within the meaning of the Water Framework Directive. In fact, illegal water abstraction and water abstraction for urban supply have not been taken into account.
Moreover, the Guadalquivir Basin Hydrological Plan does not contain measures to stop the deterioration of protected habitat types located near the Matalascañas tourist area due to excessive water abstraction for urban supply.
Yet, according to scientific data, these habitats continue to deteriorate, and this deterioration will worsen due to the falling groundwater levels.
See the judgment (in French): https://bit.ly/35Vsh2Z (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)