Explanatory factors of urban water leakage rates in Southern Spain

The need for strategies leading to the sustainable management of water resources is an increasingly pressing issue, particularly in regions that suffer great water stress. Paradoxically, in many cities of the world, water losses remain high. This is of concern not only in developing countries but also in the developed world. Analyzing data from 133 Andalusian cities, we ask ourselves why water losses are so high in some of the cities in this region, a region which has itself the greatest level of water stress in the European Union and also exhibits relatively high urban water losses.

► The sustainable management of water resources is an increasingly pressing concern. ► We ask ourselves why water losses are so high in some cities Southern Spain. ► Losses are related to the dispersion of the population served, the rate of population growth, and population density. ► Against expectations, the ideology of local governments seems to have no statistically significant effect.