Evaluation of brine management strategies from the perspective of the sustainable development goals: Application in the canary islands

Abstract

The desalination of seawater is presented as the solution to cover the demand for water in a future scenario of the climate crisis. Nevertheless, desalination also has environmental impacts, with the discharge of brine into the sea being the most worrying. For this reason, many projects seek technologies that allow desalination discharge to be transformed into a more sustainable activity.

However, evaluating the sustainability of brine management strategies is a complex task that has not been developed until now. The article analyzes brine management from a holistic point of view and proposes establishing strategies based on sustainability objectives that may, in turn, be compatible with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As a result, a framework of 7 Sustainable Brine Management Goals, 11 targets and 18 monitoring indicators is proposed. In addition, a practical case has been developed to evaluate with indicators the scope of these goals in the Canary Islands, Spain.