Avaluació de la sostenibilitat del planejament urbanístic en l’àmbit de la Costa Brava : estudi de la disponibilitat i demanda dels recursos hídrics

Abstract

The Costa Brava is an area with a strong influx and tourist pressure. This fact, causes the local economy to devote much of the resources to meet the needs of this sector of the population, and directly, implies a continuous urban growth. The dwellings that are built, often disseminated, are destined for second residences that are only occuppied during the summer period, and this entails a set of environmental impacts and the degradation of the natural environment. One of the most important impact that tourism causes in this area is the consumption and exploitation of water resources. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the sustainability of current and future urban planning in the area of the Costa Brava, through the study of the state, supply and availability of these water resources. The methodology used has three fundamental aspects. On the one hand, a thorough investigation of information has been carried out by means of scientific articles, urban and administrative documentation, and web pages, which have allowed them to develop a series of future water demand estimates, as well as determine the state of the masses of water from which the population of the Costa Brava is supplied. On the other hand, through geographic information systems, the information collected could be represented cartographically. Finally, through interviews with experts related to the water management sector, it has been possible to understand from a global perspective, which is the problem that derives from the exploitation of this resource. The results obtained show, on the one hand that in general the state of the water mass, both superficial and underground, are deficient at the qualitative and quantitative level, so that there has been clear evidence of a lack of current water availability in the field of study. On the other hand, and through the simulation of 4 scenarios of population growth according to different perspectives of the urban planning, it has been possible to determine that on the horizon of the year 2030 there will be a considerable increase of the water demand of the municipalities of the Costa Brava in relation to current values. Finally, the interviews carried out have allowed us to consider the problem of water resources from a holistic point of view, where the quality and quantity of this resource is not only determined by the use of human consumption but that the general problem goes much further