The advent of EU water reuse regulation in the Mediterranean region: policy and legislative adaptation to address non-conventional water resources utilization in agriculture

ABSTRACT

The provision of safe, sustainable and accepted ways of water supply for the Mediterranean basin by using non-conventional water resources is key to reducing the gap between agricultural water demand and supply. The article offers a review of the current policy and legislative frameworks addressing non-conventional water resources in agriculture in selected Mediterranean countries, including non-European Union countries. A particular focus is put on the EU Water Reuse Regulation of 2020. By combining a literature review and stakeholders’ consultations, this study offers different visions from EU countries and non-EU countries around the Mediterranean which might be affected by the regulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Water reuse
• water scarcity
• non-conventional water resources
• agriculture
• regulation
• Mediterranean

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2277619

Notes

1. FIT4REUSE: https://fit4reuse.org/

Additional information

Funding

This study was carried out within the project ‘Safe and Sustainable Solutions for the Integrated Use of Non-Conventional Water Resources in the Mediterranean Agricultural Sector (FIT4REUSE)’, which received funding from the Partnership on Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) [grant agreement number 1823]. PRIMA is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program.