Implementation of Non-Conventional Water Resources for Resilient Urban Water Management: insights from the RESWATER project

The combined effects of climate change and demographic dynamics in the Mediterranean region are expected to exacerbate pressures on freshwater resources and to compromise the capacity of countries to ensure water supply security, defined as the sustained availability of sufficient quantities of safe and reliable water. These challenges will be particularly pronounced in urban catchments, characterized by low elevation, high population density, and hydrological systems that drain towards the sea. Mediterranean urban coastal catchments are especially vulnerable to water scarcity due to high water demand, limited inland freshwater availability, and increasing exposure to anthropogenic contamination from industrial, agricultural, and municipal sources, as well as to seawater intrusion, whereby saline water encroaches into freshwater aquifers, reducing their suitability for use. In this context, the Interreg NEXTMED RESWATER (Non-Conventional Water Resources for Resilient Urban Water Management) project targets critical urban water-demand hotspots and aims to identify trends in water resource availability and demand development to evaluate future risks in ensuring water supply security. RESWATER capitalizes on the results and methodologies developed in previous EU funded projects such as ARSINOE and NAWAMED, as well as on the ongoing NUSTALGIC project, ensuring continuity, knowledge transfer and upscaling of best practices in resilient urban water management. Within the RESWATER project, an online catalogue of decentralized Non-Conventional Water Resources solutions will be delivered, based on the experience gained in seven urban demonstration units, located one in each project partner country (i.e., Malta, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt and Italy). This will form the basis for the development of a policy framework to support resilient Urban Water Management Plans, fostering continuous stakeholder engagement through local Living Labs and a regional Community of Practice. Together, these actions will constitute an integrated capacity building platform, to support policymakers, researchers, municipalities, water authorities, and citizens in the development of resilient cities.