Yesterday, the Government was forced to take the most feared step in a long time: declare an emergency due to drought in the region of Barcelona and Girona. A total of 202 municipalities and almost six million people will be affected by the new measures to reduce water consumption, which will intensify the current limitations, which have especially harmed agriculture, livestock and garden irrigation. . We are now entering unexplored territory, in which city councils will see the way clear to impose restrictions in the urban and domestic sphere if they see it necessary and with an unforeseeable impact on the tourism sector.
However, in this very complicated context, the Government seems to be conspiring to overcome this difficult situation while seeking assistance from the Central Administration. The Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort, even aired with a diplomatic rejection the proposal for the emergency interconnection of the Ebro water network in Camp de Tarragona with the metropolitan network of Barcelona (from the public company ATL) , as four professional associations have requested, to face future droughts.
The Interdepartmental Drought Commission of the Government declared the emergency situation upon verifying the collapse of water reserves in the Ter and Llobregat, which has generated a situation never recorded. “It is the worst drought of the last century,” reiterated yesterday the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès.
The reservoirs that supply the Barcelona region, large areas of Girona and the Costa Brava accumulate 99.5 hm3 (out of a maximum of 612 hm3), and are at 16.25% of their capacity, which has crossed the threshold of maximum alert (located at 16.3%). The water from the desalination plants and the flows regenerated and reused in the Llobretat provide more than 55% of the water resources in the Barcelona area. These resources have made it possible to delay the entry into the state of emergency by 15 months.
With the decision adopted, the volumes of water consumed by municipalities may not exceed 200 liters per inhabitant per day for all (including economic, commercial and domestic activities). City councils are threatened with sanctions if they exceed them.
The emergency will also entail an increase in restrictions for agricultural uses (80%), livestock (50%), industrial (25%) and other recreational uses (25%) as well as the prohibition of recreational uses that involve irrigation. .
City councils may apply supply cuts or a reduction in supply pressure, as defined by the local drought plans and the successive stages of the emergency.
To account for this situation, President Aragonès and Minister Mascort wanted to offer at all times the image of a government that has the situation under control, that knows what it is doing and that has been acting “without improvisation” and with planned measures since it was established. approved the Special Drought Plan (2020), although focused on reducing demand rather than expanding supply. “We will overcome the drought thanks to collaboration, shared effort, planning and well-directed investments,” Aragonès highlighted.
The appearance was filled with praise for the efforts that the various affected sectors have been making, with special mention to the rural world. “The one who has been supporting this effort until today is agriculture and livestock,” said the Aragonès in recognition.
The Catalan Government rules out the emergency connection with the Ebro network proposed by four professional associations, convinced that their roadmap is correct and that with the additional resources programmed they will be able to face the drought. Other sectors, such as Foment del Treball, believe, however, that the Government is banking everything on rain and an “inconcrete and insufficient” option of transporting water from the Ebro to Barcelona.
Mascort held a meeting on Tuesday with the secretaries of these professional colleges (Road Engineers, Industrialists, Agronomists and Economists) to discuss the interconnection of the Ebro network with the metropolitan one.
And their response was forceful: “Interconnection is not a solution for the current drought, because they themselves tell us that the work would be in the summer of 2025. Therefore, it is not a solution for today,” the councilor told them. Mascort added that the solution to resolve water deficits for the future is already “drawn and approved in the management plan.” Their calculation is that 200 hm3 of water are being produced per year and that with the new investments (desalination plants, regenerated water, Besòs water and greater efficiency) another 200 additional hm3 will be available, enough to meet the needs of a consumption of 400 hm3 in the metropolitan area. “The guidelines are already drawn,” he reiterated. The infrastructures of the future will pivot on what is established in the river district management plan of Catalonia 2022-2027 and solutions based on new desalination plants and regenerated water.
Those in favor of undertaking this work consider, however, that activating this interconnection work with the Ebro network urgently would allow it to be ready in about 12 months, especially if it is supported by an alliance of large construction companies, although It is admitted that administrative obstacles may arise in the permits (since it must pass under AVE and AP7 tracks), which can be corrected with a process in parallel to the beginning of the work. "If it doesn't rain, this work would serve for this (prolonged) drought," they counter.
Surely the political obstacles must have contributed to shaping the Government's position in its rejection of this work.
One of the cards that the Government continues to consider, for an extreme case, is to transport water from the Ebro in boats to Barcelona. “We are working so that, if necessary, it can be done,” said Mascort before admitting that “the complicated thing is finding ships.” However, he was optimistic about the interview that he will have on Monday with the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, who has shown complete willingness to provide help. “Surely we will find a formula to bring water to Barcelona if necessary.
In relation to the decrease in water pressure, the councilor assured that this cannot be a general normal and advocated acting “surgically” and in collaboration with the water companies. Operators have been doing tests for months "to see if it is possible, in a specific neighborhood or sector, to lower that pressure, and in places where it is possible they will do so."
