Class 40 International Seminar: February 28

On Monday morning Dr. Jose Albiac led us to our first meeting with Regelio Galvan Plaza from the Confederation of Ebro Hydrographic Basin in Zaragoza. Mr. Plaza gave us an overview of the functions of the Ebro Basin Confederation, and his purpose is primarily water planning for the entire Basin. A hydrographic basin is the area of land on which all the water converges by means of a network of tributaries on a single main river then flows to the sea. The Ebro Basin is supplied water by the Pyrenees Mountains in Northern Spain. It is a natural territorial unit which does not coincide with political or administrative boundaries, meaning it spans across multiple states and provinces. The Confederation is an organization responsible for the coordination of different uses of water through the issuance of water licenses. A portion of the water distribution system dates back to the Roman occupation of Spain. The Ebro Basin Hydrographic Water Management Control Room is where water management technicians control and monitor water flow and quality. Strategic water quality monitoring stations are located down stream from possible violators throughout the water shed. The monitoring room was impressive because they are capable of monitoring the agricultural and urban water use for an area spanning over 21 million acres. Spain is one of the leading producers of meat (hogs, lambs, and cattle). Runoff from these animal farms carry nitrates to the water ways, and the efforts of preventing this pollution has proven to be a difficult task. Water quality standards and accepted levels are dictated by the European Union, and in Spain surface water and aquifers are public domain. The Zaragoza region is arid like the San Joaquin Valley, so the water management is crucial to the sustainability of the area.

Our next stop was CITA (Centro de Investigacion y Tecnologia agroalimentaria de Aragon), where Dr. Jose Albiac, our guide, spends his time focusing on water policy & economics. CITA is a public institution devoted to research, development and technology for the agricultural and food sectors. CITA’s purpose is to increase the competiveness and environmental sustainability of the two sectors. There are several Units of CITA including Animal and Plant Technology, Food Quality and Safety, Soils, Irrigation, Agro-food Economics, and Natural Resources. Dr. Albiac mentioned that water policy in Spain focuses primarily on surface water. In the 1960’s, rivers and water ways in Spain were healthy, yet due to industrialization and urban sprawl, pollution increased rapidly by the 1980’s. The pollution forced water policy to develop within the country addressing the issues. By the 1990’s

Spain

enacted the National Irrigation Plan, which is still in place today.

A representative from the CITA Seed Bank reviewed their functions with us. They collect, reproduce and store a library of vegetable plant seeds native to

Spain

, other than tree crops. An inventory is maintained at the location we visited. There is a larger seed bank located in Norway (Svalbard) Spitsberce Islands Nortic Gene Bank which stores seeds for all countries in a controlled environment in an underground bunker.

Sergoi Lecina Brau of CITA, presented to us scientific and technological information about the crop-soil-water-atmosphere interface leading to more competitive, efficient and sustainable agricultural systems with emphasis on irrigation, agronomy and the environment with an applied-research focus. They have developed software that helps manage all aspects of water distribution and usage.

During our lunch, Dr. Albiac told us that the average farm in Spain is about 40 to 100 acres, and that most farm owners are not interested in selling their land. Also, we learned that there are 60,000 acres of greenhouses in Spain which are very profitable supplying agricultural products to much of Europe and domestically. Dr. Albiac has been to Turkey to study the GAP Water Project and is familiar with the issues surrounding the project. Other than getting internet access intermittently, our trip is shaping up to be very well organized and is an experience we are happy to share with our classmates and followers.