In water-stressed agricultural regions, reuse of reclaimed water has emerged as a promising alternative that improves supply reliability, alleviates water scarcity and contributes to circular economy. The European Union has recently launched several initiatives to facilitate the adoption of water reuse for irrigation. However, its adoption is still far below its potential in most areas. This is the case of the Western La Mancha aquifer, in central Spain, where reclaimed water reuse is considered an alternative source to groundwater that may contribute to reduce overexploitation. A stakeholder-based fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) was developed to provide insights into the current situation of reclaimed water reuse in this area, as well as to explore the outcomes of different simulated scenarios (cost recovery, agricultural transformation, social awareness and political will increase). The FCM-based dynamic simulations showed that political will increase would generate the highest increase of reclaimed water reuse in agriculture in the study area, providing the highest increase of water reuse in agriculture. Agricultural extensification and increased social awareness delivered similar positive outcomes, however, only public awareness campaigns would increase water reuse, with agricultural extensification outcomes being more oriented towards the reduction of water abstractions and pollution. The cost recovery scenario was the only one that resulted in non-desired changes, mainly caused by reduced farmers’ income due to higher costs of reclaimed water. Finally, the analysis also evidenced the key role that the newly enacted EU Water Reuse Regulation may play in promoting reclaimed water use, even reversing the negative outcomes of the cost recovery scenario.

The “Europe 2020 Strategy” launched by European Institutions is a commitment to increase growth based on the coexistence of both competitiveness and sustainable development. This paper analyzes the competitiveness of production systems in the cereal steppes of Castile, Spain. An indicator based on each production system’s profitability threshold was built. The diagnostic analysis methodology allowed the identification of 20 production system models related to agrarian, livestock and mixed farming systems. The results show very different levels of competitiveness which are not necessarily related to the farms’ sizes or capitalization levels but mostly to production costs and the farmers’ ages. The response of these models to future input and output price scenarios shows that mixed farms are less dependent on external production factors.

The water sustainability of the Segura River Basin (SRB), located in southeastern Spain, is being challenged as conventional available water sources fall short of meeting the authorised demands of the basin. In recent years, non-conventional water (NCW), such as desalinated and reclaimed water, has become part of the resource pool. However, it has not yet become crucial for irrigation water supply due to its relatively high cost and lower quality compared to conventional water. The new political framework in Spain, developed in the context of ecological transition, marks a notable shift for non-conventional water as a strategic resource for agriculture. This study examines the drivers and barriers influencing its acceptance through an analysis of farmers’ perceptions, conducted through interviews with twelve irrigation communities’ (ICs) representatives of the basin. Discriminant analyses of the data show that the farmers’ experience, along with factors pertaining to production, storage, and transportation costs, determines the acceptance and use of NCW.