Integrated Water Governance in the Júcar River Basin: Turning Scarcity into Resilience

The Júcar River Basin, Valencia’s main water source, faces a critical juncture as frequent droughts, water scarcity, and groundwater overuse intensify under climate change. Political tensions between Castilla-La Mancha and Valencia add complexity to an already fragmented governance landscape where rigid legal frameworks and weak cross-sector coordination limit effective responses. This new RETOUCH NEXUS policy brief proposes a transformative shift toward integrated Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus governance that balances water use with energy production, agriculture, and environmental needs while engaging stakeholders beyond traditional water actors.

Fragmented governance undermines sustainability: Current water-dominant approaches with limited engagement of smallholder farmers and environmental NGOs create coordination gaps and miss opportunities for synergies across water, energy, food, and ecosystem management.

WEFE Nexus integration is essential: Moving from sectoral planning to integrated approaches that explicitly recognize linkages and quantify trade-offs enables more coherent, basin-wide strategies that optimize outcomes across all four nexus elements.

Economic instruments drive efficiency and equity: Water pricing through volumetric and tiered tariffs can encourage efficient use while maintaining equity via differentiated rates and subsidies, with revenues feeding resilience funds for adaptive infrastructure.

Inclusive participation strengthens legitimacy: Expanding participatory platforms to include underrepresented stakeholders, particularly smallholder farmers and environmental advocates, ensures governance reflects diverse perspectives and fosters equitable resource distribution.

Progressive implementation builds capacity: A phased roadmap from 2025-2035 establishes foundations through stakeholder mapping and pilots, scales successful models while integrating economic tools, and ultimately institutionalizes nexus approaches in all planning processes.