by Laurent Pouget, CETAQUA

The recycling of urban wastewater is a key Integrated water resources management (IWRM) solution to the urgent problems of food and clean water availability and can offer simultaneous benefits to farmers, cities, and natural environmental systems. However, systems relying on urban wastewater reuse still often remain small or fail because social, environmental, or economic aspects have been disregarded [1]. Several good practices, successful cases, and guidelines exist but are still rarely used. One example is the WHO´s manual on Sanitation Safety Planning (SSP) (2016)[2].

The MAGO project will build on these practices and guidelines to improve planning and operation of water reuse systems in agriculture. MAGO will deliver a web application system (SSP-Risk Assessment (RA) tool) to facilitate the management of complex risks and stimulate policy dialogue and change through a participative process.

The tool will provide a simple structure to facilitate the realization of risk management steps and the exchange of information between all the agents involved (monitoring data, forecasting, and decisions influencing others). The approach will be demonstrated in Spanish and Lebanese sites and will benefit from the partners' experience in using WHO guidance (Aigües de Barcelona SSP developed in H2020 WATERPROTECT), in addressing the social barriers in the Mediterranean Region (American University of Beirut extensive work on farmer perception) and assessing environmental/health risks of wastewater reuse ( H2020 WATERPROTECT with CSIC-IDAEA, Consorci del Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat and Llobregat Delta Community of Water Users CUADLL).