The Government has called a meeting of the Interdepartmental Drought Commission for this coming Thursday in order to declare the emergency phase, the most serious of all, in the Ter Llobregat system, which supplies more than 200 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and part of Girona.
In the press conference after the meeting of the Executive Council, the spokeswoman for the Government, Patrícia Plaja, indicated this Tuesday that the Ter Llobregat system is already at 16.34%, very close to the 16% limit to enter the phase of emergency
Thus, he explained that it has been decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the Interdepartmental Drought Commission for this Thursday to evaluate all the data and specify "with high probability" the entry into the emergency phase "in the coming days."
In the first stage of the emergency phase, water supplies must be reduced to 200 liters per day per inhabitant for all uses (commercial, industrial, recreational or personal), and in stages two and three they must drop to 180 and 160. liters, respectively, while other restrictions will increase.
In the emergency phase, the total or partial filling of all types of swimming pools will be prohibited, which includes those in hotels and campsites. However, in emergency phases I and II, partial filling of covered swimming pools registered in the Generalitat's census of sports facilities and open swimming pools used throughout the year for federated sports practice will be permitted if they have a water recirculation system, in the quantities essential to guarantee sanitary quality.
To save a volume of water equivalent to that used to refill the pool, in emergency phase II the showers will be closed.
Swimming pools for therapeutic use in hospitals, residences and special education centers, and centers of the Public Care Social Services Network may also be filled and refilled, as well as swimming pools for bathing people with a degree of disability in which It is known that they suffer from behavioral alterations.
As for pools with seawater, they can be filled completely or partially as long as they are filled and emptied without connection to the supply or sanitation networks.
For the first phase of the emergency, the Government relaxed some of the restrictions initially planned in phases I and II of the emergency in the middle of the month.
The irrigation of natural grass sports fields for the practice of federated sports, such as soccer fields, may be carried out in emergency phase I if regenerated or groundwater water is used and if it does not imply a reduction in the availability of water for home supply, and will be compensated with restrictions on the opening of showers.
If emergency phase II is reached (180 liters per day per inhabitant), irrigation can be guaranteed with the same conditions as phase I, but with the total closure of the showers.
Although the prohibition on the use of water for irrigation of gardens and green areas, both public and private, is maintained, public irrigation for the survival of trees and botanical gardens may be carried out if it is done with regenerated water from a treatment plant or with groundwater. -as Barcelona City Council already does-, as long as it does not reduce the availability of water for home supply.
Irrigation must take place during hours of low sunshine and use the minimum amount of water that is essential. The origin of the water used must be visibly indicated, clearly and expressly stating that it is non-potable water.
"Trees are necessary to mitigate high temperatures and their death would be worse" due to the restrictions, so in phases I and II "we allow their irrigation," said the councilor.
If emergency phase III is reached, irrigation with non-potable water will only be allowed for the survival of trees of a singular or monumental nature.
