The Spanish Government is preparing the transport of desalinated water by boat to Barcelona from the Sagunt desalination plant (in Valencia) to face the emergency situation in the central region of Catalonia, including areas of Girona and the Costa Brava, due to the drought. This was confirmed to this newspaper by sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, who specified that "it would not be an immediate action", but rather "towards the summer." Meanwhile, a stage opens to organize logistical preparations and analyze the evolution of the emergency. The president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, has given his approval to this approach out of solidarity between communities.
The Government's willingness to transport water by boat to Barcelona from this State desalination plant comes after various social sectors have expressed their rejection of transporting water by boat using funds from the Ebro mini-transfer concession in Tarragona.
The Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, was the first to anticipate the announcement, explaining that he had received the call from Minister Ribera and that he has shown his support for this decision, invoking "solidarity between regions." He also obtained guarantees that the desalinated water transported will have a priority and almost exclusive use for domestic consumption, as appropriate to the emergency situation.
All the details of the pre-agreement reached will be announced on Monday after the interview that the Minister, Teresa Ribera, will hold with the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort.
The forecast is that transportation by boat will be carried out on a daily basis, although it remains to be determined when the operation would be launched, something that will depend on the evolution of the emergency situation. But the initial forecast is that it will be activated towards summer, when it may enter a more advanced phase of the emergency if it does not rain.
Meanwhile, the reservoirs in the Barcelona region continue to fall; They accumulate 99 hm3 of reserves, a figure below the 100 hm3 that marks the emergency threshold in grade I, and they only store 16.2% of their total capacity.
However, transport by boat (which could carry about 40,000 m3 on average) could only contribute 8% of the daily consumption of the metropolitan area, according to sources familiar with these operations.
Sources from the Department of Climate Action of the Generalitat admit to this newspaper that there have been contacts between Acuamed (the state company that manages the Sagunto plant) and the public company Ens d'Abastament d'Aigua Ter-Llobregat (ATL), which would be the one in charge of coordinating the tasks to bring water from Valencia to Catalonia.
Mazón explained that he is in favor of "desalinated water having a priority and almost exclusive use for emergencies for oral consumption, not for irrigation because this is very harmful to our crops and citrus fruits." Likewise, he has insisted that Valencians They also demand that "water solidarity between regions be officially extended throughout Spain", thus referring to the fact that the south of Alicante historically suffers from significant water deficits.
In fact, the Generalitat Valenciana and the central government maintain differences over the contributions of the Tajo-Segura transfer to the southeast, which the Valencian government considers insufficient.
The PP leader has taken advantage of the conversation with the head of the Ecological Transition to ask her not to forget the needs of L'Albufera, the main Valencian wetland that is also going through a major crisis.
However, last Thursday Councilor David Mascort already warned that "the complicated thing is finding boats." And regarding the meeting that he will have with Ribera, he expressed hope in finding "the formula to bring water to Barcelona if necessary." "I have said many times that the relevant thing is not where it comes from but that when we need it we can go look for it and have it ready," he remarked.
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition, through the Secretary of State, Hugo Morán, already guaranteed a few days ago, in statements to La Vanguardia, the State's willingness to transfer water from the desalination plants on the Spanish coast to be transported by boat to Barcelona. in case it is necessary. Morán indicated that it is up to the Government to first gauge the needs, look for shipping companies and guarantee the connection in the port of Barcelona before the ministry intervenes.
The Valencian solution comes after the president of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, requested by letter an “urgent meeting” with the minister to express his rejection of any interconnection of the Ebro water network in Tarragona with that of the metropolitan area of Barcelona. clearly crossed out as “transfer”.
“I can't imagine that if the minister is going to meet with the Generalitat, she will not do so with the Government of Aragon. "No decision can be made about the Ebro without first listening to the Aragonese," Azcón assessed, assuming that this possibility would be discussed at the meeting scheduled for Monday between Teresa Ribera and the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort.
Despite these statements by the leader of the Aragonese PP, the Government has already shown its confidence in being able to overcome the drought without the emergency interconnection of the Ebro water network in Camp de Tarragona with the metropolitan network of Barcelona (of the public company ATL), as four professional associations have requested, to face future droughts.
