Published March 2026
The link between regeneration and water
The Regeneration Series: Report about how regenerative-organic farming affects water.
Read the full report here
The living reservoir: Regenerating water from the soil up
Did you know that agriculture already consumes 70% of the world’s freshwater and that aquifer over-extraction has been so extreme it has even shifted Earth’s axis? Our latest report, “Regenerative Series: Harvesting the Rain”, shows how regenerative-organic farming can turn soils into living reservoirs — protecting our food supply and securing our shared water future.
The Water challenge and the soil solution
In Europe, 20% of land and 30% of the population already face water stress every year. Droughts are moving north, floods are intensifying in the south, and soils — compacted and degraded by conventional agriculture — can no longer hold the rain that still falls. On top of this, fertiliser and pesticide run-off has polluted a third of Europe’s waters, costing billions to clean. Conventional farming isn’t just vulnerable to climate extremes — it’s making them worse.
The good news is that healthy soils act like sponges. A 1% increase in organic matter allows a hectare of farmland to store 75,000 litres more water and improves infiltration rates by up to 256%. Farms like La Junquera, BioSanz, and Tropiterráneo are already proving it: absorbing floods, cutting irrigation needs in half, and even turning lifeless reservoirs into thriving ecosystems.
The bigger picture
Water security is not just about rain or reservoirs — it’s about how we farm. Supporting farmers who “harvest the rain” is more than a consumer choice: it’s an investment in food resilience, biodiversity, and the water security of us all.
Dive deeper into the science and stories behind water resilience.
Read the full report here
Written by Fran Aparicio
Fran Aparicio coordinates Regenerative Agriculture at CrowdFarming, which mostly means he spends his days trying to make farmers, scientists and data people agree on what “healthy soil” actually means. He lives somewhere between muddy boots and research papers, translating field reality into something you can measure (and hopefully improve).
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