The City Council of Begur, in Baix Empordà (Girona) has collected more than 20,000 euros in fines for excessive water consumption and will reduce pressure throughout the municipality to encourage savings compared to entering pre-emergency. So far, after installing electronic meters throughout the town and in the urbanizations, the council has already issued about 70 fines.
The mayor, Maite Selva, admits that "it is sad" that "sometimes only the language of the sanction is understood", but that they have encountered flagrant cases in which consumption was stratospheric.
Now, the City Council will promote greater measures to reduce consumption. He will draft a regulation that will force new homes to have tanks and will raise the last installment of the water bill to make the bill more expensive for those who spend the most.
Begur is one of the municipalities that, despite not being obliged to do so, has an Emergency Plan for the drought. "Our water consumption was excessive and we considered that we should do it; in addition, it must be taken into account that, due to its typology, Begur has a large floating population," the mayor specifies.
In fact, to see it, just take a look at the figures. Begur has about 4,200 registered inhabitants, but in high season, its population multiplies by seven. It is dotted with urbanizations, has 5,700 homes - of which about 4,000 are second homes - and has up to 28 hotels and two campsites.
To reduce water consumption, and above all penalize those who turned on the tap without thinking about it, the City Council installed smart meters in all homes and businesses. This has allowed him to monitor in detail what consumption each person makes and see who was wasting water. "These devices, which we reset every week, have helped us a lot; it is almost surgical work," says Selva.
And from there, the warnings came and then the sanctions. "First we did pedagogy, and we sent many letters to both domestic and private consumers who were overdoing it with water; and from there, when they reoffended, that is when we fined them," explains the mayor.
So far, the Begur City Council has already issued seventy fines to large consumers. They are all 750 euros, although the gradation - for those who persist - allows them to reach 3,000. Maite Selva explains that, contrary to popular belief, the problem has not been the pools, but the automatic irrigation.
Yes, they have encountered people who have filled newly built swimming pools - despite the emergency, it was not possible in Begur - and they have been fined. But the vast majority of fines refer to those who refused to have a dry garden. "Many people gave up watering; but there have been others who did not do it, and who had a beautiful garden with green grass at a time when it was not necessary," says the mayor of Begur.
In fact, among these sanctioned (owners of second homes) there are truly flagrant cases. "We have found housing consumption that would be equivalent to that of 150, 200 or even 300 people; this is nonsense," admits Maite Selva.
Of the fines that have been filed, so far the City Council has already collected 45. Overall they amount to more than 20,000 euros (because if they are paid during the first days, there is a discount). "With the rest, allegations have been presented, some of which have been accepted, and others have not or are in process," Selva specifies.
However, the sanctions have proven effective. Because the fine was accompanied by a clear warning: if the situation continued, the City Council and the company -Aigües de Catalunya- would install a device that would drastically reduce the entry of water into the home. "There would only be for basic and necessary domestic uses," says the mayor. And for now, she adds, they haven't had to put any, because people have come to their senses.
"It is true that all those who were repeat offenders, and whom we have sanctioned, have reduced their water consumption; it is sad, because people sometimes only understand the language of the sanction," laments the mayor of Begur. "Our will is not to do it, but this is one of the tools, or we could say the tool, that helps us alleviate this excess water," she says.
The steps that Begur City Council has taken so far have helped reduce water consumption in the municipality. In December of last year, it reached a peak of 576 liters per inhabitant per day. And in recent months, according to data from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), it has been much lower. In August it was 313 liters; in September, 356; and in October - the latest data available - it climbed to 409 liters.
The mayor admits that, despite the efforts, it is still above what is established by the pre-emergency due to drought (210 liters per inhabitant per day). And it is already reported that the City Council is going to promote new measures to further encourage water savings.
"To begin with, we are working to reduce network pressure throughout the municipality; we want to get ahead as soon as possible," says Selva, adding that this will help them not only reduce consumption in homes, but also control leaks. Because, in fact, Begur's water network is so huge - it has 52 urbanizations - that another problem is the leaking pipes.
"In fact, this is the reason why, despite being in the low season, consumption has increased in October; when there are fewer people in Begur, the water lost through leaks has a greater impact when calculating the liters per inhabitant and day," explains Maite Selva. "We have detected the leaks and we are working; we have already carried out works, and where we can we immediately take action, but we have a very large area of the municipality and many kilometers of territory," the mayor specifies.
In parallel with reducing pressure, the council will also carry out other measures. Recently, for example, the plants in the garden areas at the entrance to the municipality have been changed to others that are more resistant to drought. And as Selva progresses, the City Council will also promote new municipal water saving regulations. Among the measures that will be included, there will be the obligation that all homes that are built again must have two deposits. "One to collect wastewater to revert to garden irrigation, and another to be able to take advantage of the rains; we will require it from the moment they ask us for the license," says the mayor.
In addition, the council will also raise the last section of the bill (precisely, the one that taxes those who consume the most). "We are reviewing the water price rates, we will leave the first and second tranches as they are, but we do want to increase the third, and make it much higher than what there is now," explains the mayor of Begur.
Maite Selva reiterates that "it is very sad" to have to touch our pockets so that these large consumers think twice about turning on the tap. But she also adds that what needs to be avoided - and what they want to do - is that the righteous pay for sinners. "We have people who look at it a lot, what cannot be is that for those who come to spend the holidays, or who do not want to save water, this ends up having an impact on the rest," she says. "Whoever really does things wrong must pay," concludes the mayor.
