Benidorm measures its water footprint with a €465,000 plan

Hidraqua has been granted the contract to provide external technical help for Benidorm’s Comprehensive Water Footprint Management Plan. This project is part of the 2022 Sustainable Tourism Destination Plan “Benidorm Visión 360,” which is funded by Next Generation EU.

The contract budget, estimated at €65,000, will fund the beginning of a groundbreaking study aimed at assessing the water demands of various local economic sectors, allowing for the implementation of more effective and efficient resource management strategies. Mayor Toni Pérez stated that “the entire plan amounts to €465,000” and emphasised “the importance of having accurate data to design more sustainable water policies.”

Hidraqua received the highest rating in the tender

The proposal from Hidraqua, the current concessionaire for the Integrated Water Cycle in Benidorm, received the highest rating of all those submitted to the tender. The company received the highest score in the technical categories linked to service offering, implementation strategy, and suggested steps to lower the water footprint, totalling 45 points.

In the financial component, the €65,000 offer with a six-month deadline resulted in 24.5 additional points, giving the candidate the highest overall score of 69.5. With these findings, the Contracting Committee recommended the award to the Governing Board, which gave final approval.

This project is part of the ‘Benidorm Visión 360’ program, which is sponsored by European funding.

Platform for evaluating water footprint

The project includes creating an online platform to calculate Benidorm’s territorial water footprint in accordance with ISO 14046 guidelines. The purpose is to properly measure water use throughout all sectors of the city, from municipal and agricultural to industrial and, most crucially, tourism.

This computation will allow us to establish the total amount of freshwater required to create the goods and services consumed in Benidorm, ranging from food and industrial items to serving millions of visitors. “It will allow us to propose sustainable management measures and establish strategies to improve water use efficiency,” the mayor, Toni Pérez, said.

Hidraqua received the top score in the tender for technical and economic parameters.

Blue, green, and grey footprints

The measurement system will have three categories: blue, green, and grey footprints. The blue water footprint is the consumption of surface and groundwater along the supply chain. The green footprint counts the amount of rainwater that enters crops or green spaces and returns to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration. The grey footprint determines the amount of freshwater required to absorb pollutants released during production activities.

This analysis will provide a comprehensive assessment of the impact of Benidorm’s economic and tourism development on its water resources, allowing for more targeted action to cut consumption and safeguard the environment.

The problem now will be to turn the data into actionable decisions.

Citizens’ awareness and transparency

Once the study is completed and the computation method is built, Hidraqua will launch an awareness campaign to reveal the first year’s results. This endeavour will involve an explanation of the suggested methods to lower the territorial water footprint, as well as a transparency exercise to ensure that citizens understand the full impact of water use in their city.

Benidorm, whose population grows fivefold every summer as a result of tourism, faces one of its most pressing current and future challenges: securing a sustainable supply in the face of climate change and rising population pressure.

An exportable model

The execution of this Comprehensive Water Footprint Management Plan is an innovative step that could serve as a model for other sun and beach tourism hotspots in Spain and Europe. Benidorm is in the vanguard of urban water management because to its technical rigour, European funding, and political commitment.

The task now is to turn the data into actionable decisions: decreasing consumption, optimising networks, supporting efficient irrigation systems, and raising public awareness about water use. Benidorm hopes to boost its reputation as a wise and sustainable tourism destination capable of expanding without depleting its natural resources.