36% percent of the municipalities of the internal basins of Catalonia (the rivers that are born and die in that community) fail to comply with the water allocations imposed by the Generalitat in its special drought plan.
The data was provided yesterday by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) which for the first time identifies the consistories that fail to comply with the regulations.
This high percentage of municipalities that exceed the water allowances established in water consumption –230 liters per person per day in exceptional situations– is especially worrying at this time of extreme drought.
According to this latest report presented by the director of the ACA, Samuel Reyes, 36% of municipalities exceed the limit of 230 liters person/day. Pinos (Solsonès), with an expenditure of 1,339 liters, is at the top of this ranking.
In addition, another 8% of municipalities (another worrying figure) have not even provided the information on consumption to the ACA, with which it can be said that they also fail to comply with the norm.
The only consolation in the non-compliance with the Drought Plan of almost half of the Catalan municipalities –those that spend more and those that do not report– is that only ten percent of the population of Catalonia lives in the area of these consistories.
The rest of the inhabitants (90%) have their residence fixed in 56% of the municipalities that are doing their homework and are concerned that the consumption of their neighbors does not exceed those 230 liters per day and person.
So the inhabitants who are already aware of the need to save water win by a landslide over those who do not seem to understand the message.
Most of the consistories that do comply with the regulations are in the surroundings of the metropolitan area, with Barcelona (168 liters) at the forefront.
In the case of the Ter-Llobregat system, which, among others, supplies the municipality of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, last May some towns like Sant Esteve Sesrovires (394 liters), Matadepera (363 ) or Buckets (325).
This is also the case for municipalities such as Castellet y la Gornal (427), Vilobí del Penedès (421) or Pacs del Penedès (383)
Between Osona and La Garrotxa, the town councils that exceed the limit established by law multiply in the same area. Tavertet (543), Sant Feliu de Pallerols (463), Rupit i Pruit (439), Les Planes d'Hostoles (353) or La Vall d'en Bas (346), are some of the examples.
And it is surprising that the majority of municipalities that do not provide data on water consumption –despite the warning of being penalized with fines– are also concentrated in the same area, in this case in the province of Girona.
In that "black" list are councils such as La Bisbal d'Empordà, Torroella de Montgrí, Celrà, Vilopriu, Palau-sator, Ullastret, Verges or Forrallac. Thirty sanctioning cases have already been opened.
Further to the south, another area is drawn with a concentration of spending more water than allowed: Sant Celoni (293) Lloret de Mar (254) Sant Feliu Buixalleu (454) or Riudarenes (303).
But the "hottest" point on this map is located in Solsonès. There, municipalities such as Pinós (1,339), Clariana de Cardener (784), Riner (562) and Olius (542) stand out with a high consumption of water.
The director of the ACA, Samuel Reyes, clarifies that these skyrocketing consumptions may be due to factors such as leaks in old pipes or the use of water in livestock farms or industrial complexes.
Reyes acknowledges that the rains of the last month and a half have increased the water reserves to 31% of the capacity of the Catalan reservoirs. That is six percentage points above the situation in April.
Water reserves have been gained, but the ACA director insists that this improvement "is not enough to reverse a trend of many months."
Samuel Reyes reveals that the areas with the best rates of compliance with the restrictions are those associated with reservoirs. There are the "supra-municipal supply" networks and the municipalities with the largest population. An example? In the Barcelona metropolitan area, average water consumption has been reduced by 7%, compared to the data from the beginning of the year .
On the leaks caused by very old and in poor condition pipes (a cause that could explain the skyrocketing water consumption of some municipalities), Reyes highlighted yesterday the approval of a line of aid with an endowment of 50 million euros to improve efficiency of the municipal supply networks.
