A Tale of Two Dams: The Impact of Reservoir Management on Rural Depopulation in Central Spain

In rural areas, depopulation is mainly due to a lack of economic and employment opportunities. In this context, the reservoirs already built can be a source of socioeconomic development based on tourism and outdoor leisure activities. The condition for this development to materialize is that reservo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water resources management 2021-11, Vol.35 (14), p.4769-4787
Main Authors: Larraz, Beatriz, San-Martin, Enrique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric Sciences
Civil Engineering
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Economics
Employment
Environment
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Hydrogeology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Municipalities
Population decline
Recreation
Recreational use
Reservoir management
Reservoirs
Rivers
Rural areas
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomics
Tourism
Water management
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Summary:In rural areas, depopulation is mainly due to a lack of economic and employment opportunities. In this context, the reservoirs already built can be a source of socioeconomic development based on tourism and outdoor leisure activities. The condition for this development to materialize is that reservoir management considers these activities. In Central Spain, a process of rural depopulation has been generated in the municipalities around the reservoirs at the Upper Tagus River, as water management allows water transfers from the Tagus to the Segura River without taking into account regulations that prioritize and protect donor basin users. Through the comparison of reservoir water management and demographic data of two rural areas close to the reservoirs, this article reveals the direct relationship between reservoir management that enables recreational uses with its consequent socioeconomic development and the maintenance of the population in the territory. Consequently, reservoir water management based on the socioeconomic development of reservoir banks is necessary and a priority over transfers to another basin.
ISSN:0920-4741
1573-1650
DOI:10.1007/s11269-021-02938-9