Combined scenarios of chemical and ecological quality under water scarcity in Mediterranean rivers

Water resources are directly and indirectly affected by anthropogenic activities (e.g., changes in land use) and natural factors (e.g., climate change), that is, global change. The Mediterranean basin is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world to global change, and one of the “hot spots” for forthcoming problems of water availability. The present review provides an overview about the relationship between chemical quality (especially concerning organic microcontaminants) and water scarcity, particularly in the Mediterranean area. We include an overview of environmental contaminants and analytical methodologies and consider the fate and the behavior of organic contaminants, and the effects of pollutants on ecosystems.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065 project.Peer reviewe