The "Almeria Miracle": How One Region Used Up Its Water and Had to Find a New Way

In the dry southeastern corner of Spain, a region called Campo de Dalías turned one of Europe's poorest, driest places into a powerhouse of vegetable farming. Over several decades, farmers built thousands of plastic greenhouses and pulled water from underground to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and more. The region became known as "the orchard of Europe." But scientists now warn that the story of Campo de Dalías is also a warning — about what happens when people use water faster than nature can replace it.

For most of history, Campo de Dalías was barren and poor. In the 1940s, workers discovered large stores of water hidden underground in layers of rock and soil called aquifers. The Spanish government encouraged farmers to dig wells and use that water to grow crops. At first, farmers pulled out only about 5 to 6 million cubic meters of water each year — a relatively small amount. But as technology improved and more people moved into farming, that number shot up fast.

By the mid-1980s, farmers were pulling nearly 100 million cubic meters of water from the ground every year. That was far more than rain and snowmelt could refill. The underground water supply was shrinking — even in years with normal rainfall. Scientists call this overextraction, meaning people are taking out more than nature puts back in.

A 1985 law tried to put the government in charge of Spain's water and created a system where farmers needed permission to use it. However, the rules were hard to enforce, and many farmers dug illegal wells. Fees were often not collected, and the law slowed things down only a little. The overuse of water continued for many more years.

Water quality also got worse over time. Saltwater from the nearby Mediterranean Sea crept into the aquifers — a problem called seawater intrusion. Fertilizers and chemicals from farms seeped into the groundwater too, pushing pollution levels dangerously high. As the water got worse, farmers dug deeper wells or mixed water from different sources, making the overall problem even bigger.

In the 1990s and 2000s, farmers began using smarter ways to water their crops. Drip irrigation — a system that sends tiny drops of water directly to plant roots — became popular across the region. Farmers also started growing plants in greenhouses without soil, using nutrient-rich water instead. These methods cut the amount of water needed to grow each ton of vegetables by as much as 75 to 90 percent.

But there was a catch. Even though each plant needed less water, farmers were also growing far more plants, and the area covered by greenhouses grew by 231 percent. Total crop production jumped by 666 percent. So even though water use per ton of food dropped sharply, the total amount of water used went up by more than three times — a pattern researchers call the rebound effect.

By the early 2000s, the upper aquifer had collapsed from overuse and salt pollution. Farmers shifted to deeper aquifers, but those soon showed the same problems. Spain's government responded with a bold plan called AGUA, launched in 2004, which focused on building desalination plants — machines that remove salt from seawater to make it safe for crops. A large plant near Campo de Dalías was completed in 2015, and today between 50 and 80 percent of the region's irrigation water comes from desalination.

Desalinated water is much more expensive than groundwater, costing up to €1.20 per cubic meter compared to just €0.16 in the old days. But because modern farming uses so much less water per ton of crops, the total cost to farmers has stayed manageable. Growing one ton of melons once required 673 cubic meters of water; today it takes only about 65. Even at the higher price, water costs per ton of produce have stayed similar or even fallen.

The story of Campo de Dalías has also revealed serious problems for workers. As water costs rose, some farm owners cut costs by paying workers less and providing unsafe conditions. Most farm workers in the region are migrants from Africa, Eastern Europe, and Roma communities, and many face low wages, poor housing, and exposure to harmful pesticides. Researchers say this shows how environmental problems can also hurt people, especially those who are already vulnerable.