There are two main demands of the Government to the municipalities in the current phase of drought: one, that they prepare emergency plans to combat it; and two, that they abide by – that they do not exceed – the amounts of water for all uses established for each scenario (250 liters per person per day on alert and 230 liters in the current exceptional phase).
A total of 64 municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants are required to submit emergency plans against drought. Only the three municipalities that are outside the river basins under the jurisdiction of the Generalitat are exempt from this requirement (because in Catalonia there are 67 municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants). Smaller municipalities can do it but on a voluntary basis.
They had until June 2020 to present these emergency plans (following the provisions of the special drought plan of January 2020). However, so far only less than half (27) have approved it. Nine have not presented them. They are: Calafell, Cerdanyola, Cornellà, Esparraguera, Figueres, Molins de Rei, Ripollet, Valls and Viladecans.
Once they have obtained an unfavorable assessment from the Catalan Water Agency of the document presented. They are: Cambrils, Castellar, Manlleu, Ripollet, Olesa, Rubí, Salou, Salt, Sant Joan Despí, Tarragona and Vila-seca.
In the emergency plans, the councils must define the specific measures they would apply in each case (use limitations for various sectors), depending on the drought scenarios (early warning, alert, exceptionality and emergency). In addition, they must guarantee that they meet the maximum allocations established in the special plan of the Generalitat. A total of 27 municipalities have drawn up their emergency plan and obtained a favorable evaluation. They are: Barcelona, Barberà del Vallès, Blanes, Castelldefels, Girona, Granollers, l'Hospitalet, Igualada, Manlleu, Masnou, Mataró, Montcada, Olot, Palafrugell, Pineda, El Prat de Llobregat, Premià, Reus, Sabadell, Sant Cugat, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Sitges, Terrassa, Vic and Vilassar. The rest (up to the aforementioned 64 municipalities) are in the process of processing.
Some 200 municipalities exceed the maximum amount established, 25% of those concerned. The fines for these breaches for the municipalities, included in the decree law (of February 28) validated by the Government, range between 10,000 and 150,000 euros depending on the severity or repetition.
