We lack water and, furthermore, it is not kept in good condition. The cliché says that “water is a scarce commodity” but the agricultural sources that dirty it continue to be there. In Spain, 37% of subsoil water reserves are contaminated with concentrations higher than the environmental quality standard due to nitrates generated in the agricultural and livestock sector, according to analyzes by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. In the case of groundwater (rivers, lakes…) the percentage of these contaminated masses amounts to 11%.
Data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition show that Spain continues to be one of the countries with the most contamination by nitrates of agricultural origin. The number of exceedances of environmental limits in the last three years (from 2020 to 2022) has decreased slightly in the case of surface waters, but remains stagnant if we talk about subsoil reserves.
According to these data, 11% of surface waters exceed legal levels. Specifically, the internal basins of Catalonia are the hydrographic demarcation with the highest percentage of sampling points that exceed the limit allowed to protect surface waters (set at 25 milligrams per liter), according to data corresponding to the period 2020-2022. 27% of the sampling points in the Catalan basins, 24% in the Xúcar demarcation and 22% in Segura, exceed this bar.
However, the concern is even greater in the case of groundwater, since the average number of exceedances of the environmental standard (in this case 37.5 milligrams per liter) reached 36.78% in the period 2020-2022. Pollution is almost five times higher than surface water.
The areas with the most contaminated groundwater are those of the Balearic Islands (where 54% of sampling points exceed the legal limit), followed by the Guadiana demarcation (58% non-compliance), Segura (53%), Duero (49%). %) and the internal basins of Catalonia (41%)
One of the effects of all this is that in Spain at least 171 municipalities suffered in 2022 levels of nitrate contamination in local water networks higher than the limits established in the regulations for drinking water flow (50 milligrams per liter). This is indicated by data from the Ministry of Health. As a consequence of all this, at least 214,851 people in the census were affected by episodes of nitrate contamination in the drinking water network.
All this information has been compiled in the report ‘Nitrate pollution and its impact on the environment and water for human consumption’, prepared by experts and commissioned by Ecologistas en Acción.
However, the authors of the study believe that the number of people affected by this situation could be higher than that figure, among other reasons because many of the affected municipalities see their population multiply during the summer months.
The report points out that the origin of all this problem is in the discharges from industrial livestock farming, to which we must add the impact caused by the massive use of fertilizers in agriculture, especially irrigation, “without it being possible to conclude which of the two sources have greater weight”.
The agricultural origin (agricultural and livestock) of nitrates is also the thesis of the European Commission, as stated in its appeal against Spain (dated August 30, 2022) for non-compliance with the directive relating to the protection of waters against pollution produced by nitrate used in agriculture.
The appeal contains the Commission’s reproach against Spain for “not having adopted additional measures or reinforced actions necessary to remedy eutrophication in the entire country, despite the fact that the available data show that the measures provided for in the action programs “They are not being sufficient to reduce and prevent pollution.”
Along with intensive livestock macrofarms, water pollution by nitrates has its origin in the massive use of nitrogen fertilizers in irrigated agriculture. The authors of the study point out that, given that both economic activities continue to grow in our country, “it is foreseeable that this pollution, which damages aquifers and surface waters, in many cases almost irreversibly, will also do so at the same rate, with a serious risk.” for human health.”
Nitrates present in drinking water are associated with various diseases, such as colorectal cancer, according to a study published in October 2023 in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
This report demonstrates that the population exposed to nitrate concentrations greater than 9.25 mg/l has a 15% greater risk of developing colorectal cancer than those exposed to less than 1.3 mg/l.
The increased risk of suffering from this type of cancer is notable at nitrate concentrations greater than 4 mg/l.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that only 39% of the nitrate analyzes carried out in 2022 had a concentration of less than 4 mg/l, so “it seems possible to infer that a high part of the Spanish population is exposed to some nitrate levels higher than what the study considers to be precautionary for human health.
The authors of the study highlight that access to drinking water is a human right, so the fact that contaminated water is being supplied to more than two hundred thousand people represents a clear setback in terms of quality of life, a situation that, according to They point out, it is especially affecting municipalities in the so-called “emptied Spain.”
On the other hand, recent studies conclude that the maximum limit value allowed by European and Spanish legislation, of 50 mg of nitrates per liter of drinking water, is not enough to protect the population, especially against diseases such as colorectal cancer.
The report also highlights that the controls carried out by the administrations are insufficient, especially in the cases of untreated public sources and springs used by the population.
Given this situation, Ecologists in Action demands that controls be intensified on the water supply to populations in all municipalities of the Spanish State, in order to detect all non-compliance in terms of nitrates. Likewise, the environmental organization demands that the Spanish Government and political parties modify the royal decree on water for human consumption to reduce the maximum allowable limit value of nitrates.
Ecologists in Action considers it “unacceptable” that 50 mg/l of nitrates are allowed in drinking water, especially taking into account that their involvement in the development of cancer is known. Another paradox is that the permitted limit of nitrates for river ecosystems is half that allowed for drinking water.
Regarding the contamination of water bodies, Ecologists in Action demands that the use of nitrogen fertilizers be reduced by at least the 20% required by the European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy.
They also see it as necessary to stop the expansion of intensive livestock farming at the state and regional levels, which prevents the opening of new facilities. Both activities are causing very significant environmental damage, in many cases irreversible.
Finally, a new demand: those economically responsible for the pollution (intensive livestock farming and agriculture) must pay the extra costs of water purification, necessary due to their polluting actions,” says Koldo Hernández, coordinator of the study.
