A week ago Artur Beiroa, owner of a nautical company in the vicinity of the Llosa del Cavall reservoir, would have started the season with the first groups of schoolchildren. But with the reservoir at 25% it is impossible. “The valid areas to set up the nautical school are at the tail of the swamp, but with the level so low it is unfeasible, there are no accesses to get to the water”, he explains. He cancels the agreed reservations week by week. His 120 boats are stranded waiting for a rain that hasn't come for too long. The situation is not exceptional.
In the Siurana reservoir, one of the tourist attractions in the interior of Tarragona, nautical activities have been suspended for the first time in 32 years. With the swamp at 7.5%, the family business in charge of renting canoes in that environment gives up the entire season. "I have already warned the workers to find another job," laments Santi Borràs. Goodbye to the 18 jobs generated by the nautical activity throughout the course.
Nor do they sail in the Sau reservoir, which has been undergoing an operation to empty and remove fish for weeks to save the quality of the little water that remains. An operation that, according to the Agència Catalana de l'Aigua (ACA) will last at least another month. "In addition, the accesses to go down into the water are dangerous," explains Enric Dosta, from the Mosenpark water sports school, in Vilanova de Sau, whose summer reserves are on "standby."
With March and April lost, the concern in the area is obvious. "We have committed training activities with institutes, let's hope we arrive on time and that it rains," explains Marc Álvarez, director of the Aquaterra Club company. In a good year, it used to serve 1,500 schoolchildren and more than 2,000 individuals between May and July. In 2008, with the last great episode of drought that Catalonia has suffered, he decided to diversify his activities with excursions with electric segways or archery, among others.
They maintain the activity, but not in the conditions that nautical companies located in other reservoirs would like. Albert Palau, from the Indòmit company, in the La Baells reservoir, which, with 26% water, half that of a year ago, acknowledges that, although they can still provide service, expectations are bad. Last summer he already had to close one of the two business bases.
“The episode of drought does not invite us to be an attractive activity; Seeing the swamp with plenty of water or almost empty changes a lot.” Faced with these bad omens, it has not hired anyone, and if it does not rain enough, this company from Berguedà will not reach even a quarter of the clients of other years.
In the Mont-rebei gorge, Àger Aventura't, one of the firms that operates in this natural area, affirms that even with abundant rain this summer they would not be able to navigate through the imposing area of vertical walls of the gorge. With the Canelles reservoir at 20% capacity, the alternative is to transfer kayak excursions to other reservoirs such as Camarasa, which is three-quarters full.
The reservoir has not changed, but the Tirantmilles company has had to move its activity to areas with more water in the Sant Ponç marsh, in Solsonès. "The swamp is being emptied about five centimeters a day. At this rate, if it doesn't rain, I don't know if we'll make it in July", explains its owner, Mariona Martí, who is also president of the Association of Nautical Activities and Nature of the Inland Waters of Catalonia, recently established.
Says Dani Braser, from the Interregional Federation of Hospitality, Restauration and Tourism (FIHRT) and vice president of Pimec Turisme, which are self-employed companies, SMEs or micro-SMEs, that employ between eight and twenty workers at the beginning of the season in rural areas where they are implanted. 60% of the volume of business is done in summer. A business, in addition, that affects accommodation and restaurants in the area.
The president of the entity affirms that last summer was already to be forgotten, not only because of the drought, but also because of the activations of level 3 of the alpha plan due to fire risk, which prevented free access to natural parks and areas where there are these kinds of businesses.
"We have been dragging losses since then," he says. In some cases they exceeded 70,000 euros. The sector asks for aid to alleviate the losses caused by the drought and the closure of parks and natural environments due to the risk of fire. "The situation is critical and if it lasts, the losses will be brutal," he says.
But not all the blame lies with the lack of rain. In Siurana, for example, an important part of its flow, vital for the region of Priorat, has historically flowed to Riudecanyes, in the neighboring region of Baix Camp.
“90% of the water goes to Riudecanyes and Reus; the situation is the fault of poor management, it is evident. Farmers will not be able to irrigate either. The Reus City Council has dried up the reservoir, but they don't care," denounces Borràs. Environmentalists have been fighting for years to change the situation.
In the north, in the Darnius-Boadella reservoir, at 30% capacity, what worries the companies that operate now is the summer, when tourism triggers the drop in water from the dam. "In summer, 40% of the water goes away," explains Joaquín González, from Màgic Empordà. At the moment, he says that he has not received cancellations.
The situation of these reservoirs in the internal basins contrasts with those that depend on the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, whose average capacity is around 37%, some ten points more. The twenty small businesses, almost all family-owned, in the final stretch of the Ebro can offer their services normally.
"The forecasts for navigation on the Ebro are good, no restrictions are foreseen", emphasizes Josep Maria Sáez, director of the Institute for the Development of the Ebro Regions (Idece). Although the flow is low due to the drought, between Ascó (Ribera d'Ebre), with 153 hm of water and a depth of just over one meter, and Amposta (Montsià) the navigable channel remains open.
In the Oliana reservoir, at half its capacity, they continue to navigate and in the Pyrenees they have no problems either. Carlos Rabaneda, from the adventure activities and extreme sports company Roc Roi, based in Llavorsí, points out that water reserves in the form of snow "guarantee the rafting season until mid-October." And he warns: "The day there is no water in the Pyrenees, Spain will be a desert."
