(16)The effects of climate change, including increased evapotranspiration and more frequent droughts, can amplify the scarcity of water, which can jeopardise the water supply, which in its turn can lead to overexploitation of groundwater and surface water resources and increased competition for those resources. In line with the mitigation measures in accordance with the water hierarchy, consideration of feasible water efficiency measures and subsequently feasible water reuse measures are to precede measures on water desalination. At the same time, it is necessary to incentivise investments in desalination of sea or brackish water that can reduce the overexploitation of existing water resources and can also provide a stabilising buffer for the shortage of freshwater supply. It is therefore necessary to lay down technical screening criteria for desalination of sea or brackish water.