Legal aspects of groundwater ownership in Spain

Abstract

Spain's 1985 Water Law gave special significance to the Registry and the Catalogue, two legal figures that allowed the co‐existence of public and private groundwater ownership. Twenty years later, the situation of the Catalogue and the Registry is quite deficient. As a consequence, adequate groundwater management in Spain seems extremely difficult. This paper comments on the three main actions taken by the Government since 1985: first, the “Groundwater Registry and Catalogue Update Program” (ARYCA), a 42M€ project of the Ministry of Public Works, the results of which have not lived up to expectations; second, the Transient Disposition of the National Water Plan Law (2001) with regard to the “closure of the inscription period for private wells.” The results of this action are still uncertain; and thirdly, the “Update Program for the Registry and Catalogue Books” (ALBERCA), a 155M€ initiative of the Ministry of the Environment which is yet to be implemented.