The rainfall in recent days has led to a slight recovery in the level of the reservoirs that supply the region of Barcelona and Girona, but the reserves that have been gained are insufficient and are still relatively far from the threshold that would allow the emergency situation to be lifted. safe and stable way.
The rains in March are stopping the fall in the level of the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs; and they are even promoting a slight recovery. They have given a temporary respite to the extreme drought that Catalonia is suffering. However, this trend has not yet acquired the necessary dimension.
The Ter and Lobregat reservoirs currently store 99 hm3 (and are at 16% of their maximum capacity). These volumes are therefore close to the 100 hm3 that marks the entry into emergency. However, there is no exit threshold in this situation, which entails strong water restrictions for various uses.
The Catalan executive would only consider a phase change if the limits of 16% and 100hm3 are exceeded in a comfortable and sustained manner, for days or weeks.
Patrícia Plaja, spokesperson for the Government, and other technicians from the Catalan Water Agency have stressed that exiting the emergency phase is something that will be analyzed in a global context, so various indicators will be evaluated and not only the volume. embalmed.
The argument is that it would make no sense to lift the emergency if these levels drop after a few days and it becomes necessary to return to the emergency again after a few days.
ACA technicians see it as very likely that it will exceed the 100 hm3 bar, but they emphasize that there are no reasons for unjustified optimism. Yesterday morning, the flow of the Ter exceeded its flood points with modest values, and “when it stops raining, the gain in reserves slows down,” as has been confirmed. Everything will depend, therefore, on the evolution of rainfall in the headwaters of the Ter and Llobregat in the coming days.
The weather forecast indicates that the rains could last intermittently until Thursday and Friday, there would be a pause on Saturday and the rain would return on Sunday.
Plaja stressed that there are no plans to make the measures more flexible to hastily lift the emergency and that, in the same way, "there is no interest" in extending the restrictions.
"There is no interest in extending restrictions for the sake of extending them. When there are sufficient water reserves it will be done, because the emergency situation has effects on citizens and economic impact. May 16 is not the same as September, at the door of the dry season or wet," he said.
For this reason, it reiterates that exceeding 16% of the dammed volume, as has happened in the Ter-Llobregat system, does not automatically imply lifting the emergency phase. For his part, Councilor David Mascort pointed out that the emergency can be lifted when the reservoirs are at 20%.
Plaja said for his part that the Government is aware of the harm caused by restrictions to both individuals and economic sectors.
On the other hand, the Government has approved a decree law to supplement credit and financial measures to alleviate the effects of the drought and climate emergency. The total amount is 145 million euros and includes 30 million euros to finance possible actions to provide water to the supply system of internal basins, such as transporting water in boats and the use of portable desalination plants.
On the other hand, it reserves 27.5 million to expand the Besòs drinking water treatment station, 18.6 million to create wells and improve the network, 50.5 million to help the primary sector and nine million more for interventions in the field of forest fire prevention.
Patrícia Plaja explained that the objective of this measure "is to ensure the planned investments in the short term to address the lack of rain and guarantee the supply of water to the population in the face of the serious drought situation and the economic activities affected by the drought".
