This figure shows water stress in the European area. It is subdivided into three parts – each showing a map of river basins in Europe. The detail is less important than the overall picture and so the following description equates the river basins to countries.
The first map is a baseline in 2005 showing current water stress. Low water stress is indicated for central France, northern Spain, Scandinavia, parts of Ukraine, Poland and a swathe of Balkan states. Medium water stress is indicated for southern Spain, northern European countries in an arc from France/Belgium down to the Black Sea; and much of Italy. High water stress is shown for north-east and eastern Spain, south east England, Belgium/Netherlands, parts of Central Italy and parts of Greece.
The second map is a predicted scenario for water stress in 2050 where economic prosperity is prioritised. This map shows considerable increase in water stress from the first map. Few areas, except Scandinavia are now indicated for low water stress. High water stress areas have increased in number, including large swathes of England; all of the northern Europe industrialised countries, Switzerland, much of Italy and the western seaboard countries of the Black Sea.
The third map shows current population of different cities in Europe using proportional circles. The main point to be understood here is that much of the current and future water stress levels shown in the previous maps correspond to high levels of urban population, particularly cities in excess of a million inhabitants.