Half a hundred municipalities in Catalonia see their water supply guaranteed thanks to tanker trucks, which illustrates the impact of the drought on localities not connected to large high-voltage supply networks. The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) has granted 59 grants to municipalities for emergency actions that include, in addition to the provision of water in tankers, the opening of wells and network connections at a local scale . These are data from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), which has allocated 1.3 million euros to co-finance these requests for help to transport water in tankers and carry out emergency works.
The problem affects the municipalities that depend on their own underground reserves, since they are not connected to the large supply networks under the jurisdiction of the Generalitat. A common problem detected is that, as the volume of groundwater available in wells is reduced, the remaining resources are of poorer quality to the point of being unusable.
The supply of water with cisterns is done with resources captured in wells that have a concession for this purpose, and the transports must be made by authorized approved companies.
According to the ACA, of these 59 new grants, 38 have been used to co-finance the transport of water in tanker trucks, 13 to carry out emergency actions (many times, opening wells or connections to other networks) and 8 to actions that have involved these areas (both cisterns and wells). The Generalitat contributes between 30% and 95% of the total cost, depending on the census population, with a limit of 100,000 euros. Castellcir (Moianès), Mediona (Anoia) and l'Espluga de Francolí (Conca de Barberà) or the Segarra County Council, with 100,000 euros, are the local entities that have received the most aid; Castellbel i el Vilar (Bages) has received 91,237 euros, and Alforja (Baix Camp), 85,000 euros. Of the total grants granted, 20 are located in the regions of Ponent, 19 correspond to the regions of Barcelona, 17 to those of Tarragona and three to those of Girona. The expenses subject to these grants correspond to interventions made between January 1 and June 30, 2023.
In total, between 2022 and 2023 the ACA has granted a total of 213 grants, which have meant a municipal investment of 190 million euros to finance interventions that guarantee the supply of water from the entry into force of the Drought Plan in 2021.
Vallirana (Baix Llobregat) is another municipality that has needed increasingly frequent support from tankers to fill its tanks. The City Council of this municipality has suffered episodes of "turbidity" in the drinking water of one of its fundamental wells (Barquera 1), an incident that adds to the effects of the drought on a locality that is severely lacking of water resources. Its neighbors are eagerly awaiting the connection to the Ter-Llobregat network, planned for 2026 according to the Generalitat.
The Catalan Water Agency plans to allocate 120 million to improve the efficiency of local networks (modernization, prevent leaks...), despite the fact that this is not their competence. At first it was planned to allocate 50 million euros, but this figure was expanded to a maximum of 70 million additional. In total, municipalities have submitted 880 requests to update their networks (corresponding to 700 councils and local bodies), which has exceeded forecasts. In order to be able to review all the requests, the deadline was extended by another 5 months. "This extension also enables the budget allocation to be expanded and thus the maximum possible aid can be granted", says the ACA.
