For some time now, the Generalitat and the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) have been warning that sooner rather than later Catalonia will enter a state of emergency due to the lack of rain (there has always been talk of the end of December). Well, this Tuesday another step was taken in that direction. Both the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, and the director of the ACA, Samuel Reyes, have warned – after the meeting of the Interdepartmental Drought Commission and the Executive Council – that “in the coming days” the country will enter a phase of “pre-emergency”, that is, a scenario between the exceptional phase and the emergency phase. The idea, Reyes has put forward, is to enter a “preparatory stage that could last between a month and a month and a half” before reaching the state of emergency. This will translate into more restrictions, although the director of the ACA wanted to emphasize that domestic consumption "is guaranteed."
Both could not have been more explicit: Catalonia is facing the worst drought it has ever suffered since data was available, that is, since 1915. For this reason, Plaja detailed, "extraordinary measures must be taken" without waiting for the reservoirs reach the limit of 16% (now they are at 18.89%).
As an example of the "critical situation" that Catalonia is experiencing, the spokesperson wanted to emphasize that five of the last six wet seasons (spring and autumn) have been either "dry or very dry." Hence, she argued that “Catalonia had never had to face such a critical drought” due to “completely insufficient” rainfall.
Reyes, for his part, has stated that it is the "worst drought" due to its duration - for 36 months -, its intensity - because the rains are below average - and the affected area - which is a large part of Catalunya-. In this sense, he wanted to emphasize that Catalonia (specifically the Ter-Llobregat system, which is the one that concentrates the bulk of the population) could enter a pre-emergency phase next week, which would be an intermediate stage between the exceptionality and emergency.
Likewise, he has indicated that the reservoirs in the internal basins have received 300 cubic hectometers less water during the drought, "which is equivalent to three times the La Baells reservoir or two times that of Susqueda." In this sense, he explained that this rainfall deficit has been compensated with desalination and water regeneration processes and with the opening of wells. And all this - he stressed - thanks to the activation of the drought plan two years ago.
He also explained that the drought is being very noticeable in the Empordà. And he has given an example: the Darnius reservoir has reserves for 8 or 9 months.
For all these reasons, he pointed out that Catalonia is "at a turning point" and that they are now more worried than in September because, then, there was a window of possible rain ahead, which in the end did not end up falling.
However, he has appealed to raise public awareness. And not only at home, also at work, at the gym... he has detailed what the ideal consumption is at home: 90 liters per person per day. "We are entering a complicated period," she indicated.
Meanwhile, the company Aigües de Barcelona has been carrying out pressure tests at various points in the supply network in the Barcelona area to check the state of these pipes and evaluate the technical feasibility of generalizing this measure. This possibility appears as an increasingly closer solution in the event that the Catalan Water Agency decrees the entry into an emergency situation, which could entail the adoption of this measure, among others.
Technical tests have shown that savings of 7.6% have been obtained in all these areas. Now none of the 23 municipalities in the Barcelona area served by Aigües exceeds the bar of 230 liters per person per day for all uses set for the current phase of exceptionality; However, as the successive stages of the emergency hypothetically come into effect, that threshold would gradually be lowered and this measure would have to be used.
In this way, for example, if level II of the emergency were reached (and the water supply had to be reduced to 180 liters per person per day), reducing the pressure would save 20%.
The tests have been carried out "as a sample" in 16 of the 180 subsectors into which the metropolitan supply network is divided, and have been authorized by the competent Administration, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.
These tests began in September and are now being completed, as explained by Josep Lluís Armenter, project manager for the operations management of Aigües de Barcelona.
“These actions have served us above all to gather information and verify whether what the mathematical model tells us fits reality and to be able to make the necessary modifications,” says Armenter.
The tests have had “practically no impact” on the supply and there have been no complaints from users.
The forecast is that these types of measures will be applied in the event that the emergency situation is reached, something that could occur in the coming days.
However, the possible pressure drop would give priority to municipalities that exceed the maximum provision established by the Generalitat (which in the case of level I emergency would be 200 liters per person and day for all uses, including industrial, urban, domestic and else).
If this measure finally has to be adopted, the initial intention is that the pressure reduction would occur first at night. The spokespersons for Aigües de Barcelona admit that if a pressure reduction has to occur, “unfortunately the first to notice it will be the high floors”, while the lower floors “will not notice it”.
In the areas where tests have been carried out, normal pressure has been restored.
The reduction in pressure will inevitably lead to a reduction in income for the company, but Armenter stressed that “this is not what worries us most now.”
To face the drought, the administrations have made a clear commitment to desalination plants and regenerated flows (which are reused indirectly) from the wastewater of the Baix Llobregat station (El Prat), and which can be reused in various applications.
In this context, Aigües de Barcelona considers it necessary to “extend regeneration to 100%”, to face the drought and the climate emergency. That is why it is promoting, together with the Administration, various actions to reuse the regenerated water. The wastewater flows, once purified, receive additional treatment so that they can be reused for various uses.
Currently, Aigües de Barcelona sends 1,600 liters/second of regenerated water from the Baix Llobregat treatment plant, upstream to Molins de Rei to be reused as potable water. This water is captured 8 km further down, in the drinking water treatment plant of Sant Joan Despí, to make it potable and send it to the distribution network and thus follow the water cycle.
In order to have new resources to face the drought and the structural water emergency in Catalonia, the company is committed to replicating this model in the Besòs basin. For this reason, he declares that it is "essential" to deploy the Next Generation project at the Besòs hub, valued at around 1.5 billion euros. This investment "would allow us to stop depending on rainwater and guarantee the water resilience of 5 million citizens of the metropolitan region of Barcelona."
"With this project, this would be the last drought in terms of water reserves and consumption," says Armenter.
The project, promoted by Aigües de Barcelona, has the endorsement of the Generalitat, the ACA and the AMB, within the framework of the Next Generation European funds.
The objective is to generate 180 hm3 per year of regenerated, desalinated water and new water resources from the Llobregat and Besòs, to end the water deficit and stop depending on the resources that come from the headwaters of the rivers.
