The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) has fined the municipalities of Palau-Saverdera and Begur, in Girona, for exceeding the established quotas of water consumption per inhabitant per day in September, with fines of 18,777 and 54,355 euros, respectively.
In the case of Palau-Saverdera, the fine is broken down into 14,500 euros corresponding to the penalty and 4,377 euros to the damages caused by excessive consumption.
The ACA estimates that during the month of September in Palau-Saverdera 333.98 liters of water were consumed per inhabitant per day, which far exceeds the maximum allowed, and the council assures that consumption cannot exceed 200 liters/day per habitant.
The council asks its neighbors for "an effort" to reduce water consumption "as much as possible" and recalls the restrictions in force that, in addition to daily consumption, prohibit watering gardens, filling swimming pools and cleaning vehicles outside specific centers. for cleaning cars, among other measures.
To try to correct the situation, the Palau-Saverdera City Council has asked for a grant in order to install pressure regulators in the network and replace analog meters with digital ones.
In parallel, the council is working on drafting a drought ordinance, which is expected to come into force in the coming months.
In the case of Begur, which last September was in an “exceptional” situation with a maximum permitted consumption of 230 liters per inhabitant per day, according to the data provided by the municipality, 355.90 liters/day per inhabitant were consumed, which represents an excess of 116.90 liters.
According to municipal sources, the volume exceeded was 41,852.2 cubic meters (m³) and the ACA values the damage caused "by the reduction of water resources" at an amount of 0.3 euros for each cubic meter exceeded, which amounts to to 12,555.65 euros, a figure that is added to the 41,800 euros fine.
From Begur they have advanced that they will present an allegation in which they will remember the widespread effort that is being made to stop the consumption of water, they will ask that the sanction be reduced and they will demand the appropriate legal resources to be able to impact these sanctions on the directly responsible for water waste.
