“We are in an extreme situation, we are in a critical situation,” the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, said this afternoon about the drought that is gripping Catalonia. The Catalan Executive is close to declaring the emergency phase, which is why it has argued that if this level is reached, one of the options to consider, as already explained by the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort, is for water to arrive in boats. "And if other regions or other governments, despite being in a normal situation, refuse to show solidarity with Catalonia, the Government will look for all options, (...) it will do whatever is necessary," he said.
For Plaja, “it is the most serious drought ever documented.” And in October 2021, the Government activated a special drought plan to maximize resources such as desalination or water regeneration. In fact, Aragonès has already highlighted on several occasions that more than 55% of the supply does not come from reservoirs.
According to the Government, a measure like this, that of transporting water in boats, would not have any type of impact either environmentally, ecologically, or on the day of the citizens belonging to those autonomous communities. “We will use the water that is excess in other parts of the Spanish State,” added the spokesperson.
The big issue to be solved by the Government of Pere Aragonès is the drought. It is the main headache of his management and for which they do not have a solution. The Catalan Executive and the Parliament approved measures in the first semester. The PSC and Junts subjected the president to great wear and tear. But the problem continues and the Republicans are already contemplating receiving water ships from other autonomous communities. But there have been words against it. Murcia and the Balearic Islands, for example, are reluctant.
As explained by the spokesperson, the Government is working to ensure that no economic activity or Catalan citizen is left without water supply due to the drought, or at least, that its consequences have the least possible impact.
Catalonia suffers from a 37-month rainfall deficit, which impacts the amount of water accumulated in the swamps above the Ter-Llobregat interior basin. It is the one managed by the Generalitat and currently its reservoirs are at 38.9%, -the lowest percentage among the autonomous communities-, of which 17% are from the territory that includes Barcelona and Girona, while the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro (CHE), in the hands of the Ministry, accumulates the rest for Tarragona and Lleida, picnipally.
