Factors Affecting Domestic Water Consumption on the Spanish Mediterranean Coastline

Abstract

During the last decades on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline there has been a great development of low-density urban areas, as well as a change in the sociodemographic structures, especially in the municipalities that have developed a residential tourism model. Likewise, urban and tourist development have stressed the balance between the availability of water resources and urban water demands, generating situations of scarcity that might be aggravated by climate change. This study identifies the determinants of water consumption on the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, focusing on the variables related to urban land uses and socioeconomic and sociodemographic variables at the municipal level using an ordinary least square (OLS) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The GWR model results substantially improved the results of the OLS model, explaining 88.27 percent of the variance in domestic water consumption and solving the spatial autocorrelation problem of some independent variables. The most influential variables include the percentage of second homes or the percentage of residential properties with swimming pools at the municipal level. These characteristics must be considered to develop demand management policies and an updated hydrological planning to ensure urban supply in a future with less available water resources.

过去数十年来, 西班牙地中海沿岸大量发展为低密度的城市区域, 社会人口结构亦有所改变, 特别是在发展居住观光模式的市镇之中。同样地, 城市与观光发展皆为水资源的可及性与城市水资源需求之间的平衡带来压力, 导致可能因气候变迁而加剧的稀缺境况。本研究运用普通最小平方 (OLS) 以及地理加权的迴归模型 (GWR), 指认西班牙地中海沿岸的水资源消费之决定因素, 并聚焦有关城市土地使用的变因与市政层级的社会经济与社会人口变因。GWR 模型的结果显着改善了 OLS 模型的结果, 解释了家户水资源消费中百分之八十八点二七的变异, 并解决了若干独立变项的空间自相关问题。最具影响性的变项, 包含市政层级的第二房比率, 或是拥有游泳池的住宅比率。这些特徵必须纳入考量, 以发展需求管理政策和最新的水资源管理, 从而确保未来水资源更为稀缺时的城市供给。

Durante las últimas décadas ha ocurrido gran desarrollo de áreas urbanas de baja densidad a lo largo de la costa mediterránea española, al propio tiempo que un cambio en las estructuras sociodemográficas, especialmente en las municipalidades que han impulsado un modelo de turismo residencial. Igualmente, los desarrollos urbano y turístico han presionado el balance entre la disponibilidad de recursos hídricos y las demandas urbanas de agua, generando situaciones de escasez que podrían agravarse con el cambio climático. Este estudio identifica los determinantes del consumo de agua en la costa mediterránea española, centrando la atención en las variables relacionadas con los usos del suelo urbano y las variables socioeconómicas y sociodemográficas a nivel municipal, usando cuadrados mínimos ordinarios (OLS) y un modelo de regresión geográficamente ponderada (GWR). Los resultados del modelo GWR mejoraron sustancialmente los resultados del modelo OLS, explicando el 88.27 por ciento de la varianza en el consumo doméstico de agua y solucionando el problema de autocorrelación espacial de algunas variables independientes. Las variables más influyentes incluyen el porcentaje de segundas residencias o el porcentaje de propiedades residenciales con piscinas a nivel municipal. Estas características deben tomarse en cuenta para desarrollar políticas del manejo de la demanda y una actualización de la planificación hidrológica para asegurar el suministro urbano en un futuro dotado de menos recursos hídricos.

Key Words:

• determinants
• domestic water consumption
• Mediterranean
• Spain
• tourism

关键词:

• 决定因素
• 家户水资源消费
• 地中海
• 西班牙
• 观光业。

Palabras clave:

• factores determinantes
• consumo doméstico de agua
• Mediterráneo
• España
• turismo

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the editor and the reviewers for their comments and criticisms that have contributed to the improvement of the article. The authors are also thankful to many companies and councils of the Spanish Mediterranean coastline that have provided data on water consumption.

Additional information

Funding

The results presented in this article are part of a research project entitled “Uses and Management of Non-conventional Water Resources on the Coast of the Regions of Valencia and Murcia as a Drought Adaptation Strategy” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Grant Number CSO2015-65182-CS-2-P. This work is also a result of a predoctoral fellowship (FPU15/01144), granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

Notes on contributors

Rubén Alejandro Villar-Navascués

RUBÉN ALEJANDRO VILLAR-NAVASCUÉS is a PhD Student in the Interuniversity Institute of Geography at the University of Alicante, Alicante, 03080 Spain. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include studies about urban water consumption, urban water governance, nonconventional water resources, and urban political ecology.

Alfredo Pérez-Morales

ALFREDO PÉREZ-MORALES is Associate Professor of Geography, University of Murcia, Department of Geography, 30001 Murcia, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]. His research has focused on environmental hazards, water resources management, and landscape assessment.