In semi-arid regions, aquifers provide a series of practical advantages that make them preferential sources of water supply. In Spain, groundwater meets about one-fifth of the total water demand and is used to irrigate over one-third of the total irrigated land. This article examines groundwater use in Spain from the perspective of the EU Water Framework Directive. Analysis of different sector uses suggests that core problems (and solutions) related to groundwater lie in agricultural uses and that the Directive's environmental requirements remain distant from reality on the ground, where economic, political and social reasons prevail on legal obligations set by national and supranational authorities.

In the last half-century in most semi-arid or arid developed and developing countries, many aquifers have become intensively used. This means that the hydrogeological conditions may have changed, with groundwater storage being modified significantly. This intensive use has been performed mainly by millions of modest farmers with scarce public or governmental planning. This silent revolution has been market driven. The cost of groundwater abstraction is usually a small fraction of the value of the irrigated crop obtained. The benefits have been clear and important in most cases. In poor countries groundwater development has provided reliable drinking water supply and increased food security through irrigation, and consequently groundwater as become a relevant means of eradicating poverty. The impact of this groundwater development in developed countries is also significant but not yet well recognised. But sometimes, there are other associated negative effects. These sometimes have been utilised by certain lobbies to expand the hydro-myth of the unreliability (or fragility) of groundwater development, in order to continue to promote the construction of large hydraulic infrastructures. In Spain, groundwater irrigation accounts for more than 50% of the total economic value of irrigated agricultural production, while it only consumes about 20% of the total volume of water. In spite of its benefits, groundwater has not been a significant part of Spanish water policy.

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.

This paper discusses the gradual eclipse of a water management paradigms governed by the dominance of hydropower and irrigation driven development. With the advent of new additional values, that former approach has given way to the acknowledgement of the intangible values of water for its contribution to the landscape, among other things. The European Water Framework Directive has lent further impetus for changes in water management and governance. Future water authorities and stakeholders will face additional management challenges such as growing water scarcity, climate change and the predominant role of regional governments in water use negotiation and decision-making.