SCARCE - ASSESSING AND PREDICTING EFFECTS ON WATER QUANTITY AND QUALITY IN IBERIAN RIVERS CAUSED BY GLOBAL CHANGE AND NET-SCARCE - CONSOLIDER RESEARCH NETWORK ON THE EFFECTS OF WATER SCARCITY AND GLOBAL CHANGE ON RIVER SYSTEMS

SCARCE was a multipurpose project that aimed to describe and predict the relevance of global change impacts on water availability, water quality and ecosystem services in Mediterranean river basins of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their impacts on the human society and economy. In SCARCE, a cross-scale approximation was applied, with data mining and field-based research in four representative watersheds in Spain (Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar, and Guadalquivir) covering a substantial area of the Mediterranean Spain, as well as a rich set of socioecological conditions. SCARCE has evaluated the impacts of global change on several processes affecting freshwater ecosystem services. NETSCARCE is a network that builds on the scientific heritage received from the SCARCE project and aims to consolidate the multi-disciplinary network established in its parent project in order to provide insight into the current challenges related with water scarcity under global change. NET-SCARCE aims to translate the basic knowledge generated by the SCARCE project into practical management options. While NET-SCARCE is terminated, the network will last until the end of 2017.

The starting point of the collaboration within the three projects is the inclusion among the GLOBAQUA partners of three institutions from SCARCE/NET-SCARCE consortium, that helps the exchange of information between these projects. GLOBAQUA has cooperated both with SCARCE and NET-SCARCE mainly by joining efforts on dissemination actions that target the same public. The main joint activity was the Workshop, entitled “Pharmaceuticals in wastewaters and surface waters under multistressors situation: Fate, adverse effects, risks and removal technologies”, in which GLOBAQUA, SCARCE and two other European projects (Cytothreat and Endetech) joined the efforts to prepare a unique Workshop that covered the problems associated with the occurrence, treatment and risk of pharmaceuticals. Other joint activities are the link of the websites of GLOBAQUA and SCARCE/NET-SCARCE as well as the link of the SCARCE/NET-SCARCE policy briefs, that can be useful for GLOBAQUA project in the near future. These collaborations will continue in the future by means of joint efforts on dissemination activities that involve members of both project as well as exchange of information mainly regarding Ebro river basin as common target of the project that may lead to joint publication.