The rainfall of the last few days has led to a slight recovery at the level of the reservoirs that supply the region of Barcelona, Girona and the Costa Brava, but the reserves that have been gained are insufficient and are still relatively far from the threshold that would allow lifting the emergency situation safely and stably.
The rains in March are slowing down the drop in the level of the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs and 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 acquired the necessary dimension.
The Ter and Llobregat reservoirs currently store 99 hm3 (and are at 16% of maximum capacity). These volumes are therefore close to the 100 hm3 that marks the emergency entry. However, the drought plan does not include an exit threshold for this situation, which results in severe water restrictions for various uses. The Catalan Executive would only consider a change of phase if the limits of 16% and 100 hm3 are exceeded in a relaxed and sustained manner, for days or weeks.
Patrícia Plaja, spokesperson for the Government, and other technicians from the Catalan Water Agency have stressed that suspending the emergency phase is a fact that must be analyzed in a global context by which several indicators will be evaluated and not only the reservoir volume. The argument is that it would not make sense to lift the emergency if after a few days these levels drop and it becomes necessary to return to the emergency after a few days.
ACA technicians see it as very likely that the bar of 100 hm3 will be exceeded, but they emphasize that there is no reason for unjustified optimism. Yesterday morning the flow of the Ter exceeded the flood peaks with modest values; "and when it stops raining, the gain in reserves slows down", as has been noted. Everything will therefore depend on the evolution of the rains at the headwaters of the Ter and Llobregat. The weather forecast says the rain could last intermittently through Thursday and Friday, with a break on Saturday and rain again on Sunday.
Plaja emphasized 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 unnecessarily. "There is no interest in extending the restrictions for the sake of extending them. When there are enough water reserves, it will be done, because the emergency situation affects citizens and has an economic impact", he said. His argument is that it is not the same to have the reservoirs at 16% in May (on the eve of a period of little rain) as in September, at the gates of the dry or wet season. For this reason, he reiterated that exceeding 16% of the reservoir volume does not automatically imply lifting the emergency phase. Councilor David Mascort pointed out, for his part, that the emergency could be lifted when the reservoirs are at 20%. Plaja admitted that the Government is aware of the harm caused by the restrictions.
On the other hand, the Government has approved a decree-law of credit supplement and financial measures to mitigate the effects of the drought and climate emergency. The amount is 145 million and includes 30 million to finance possible actions to contribute water to the system of internal basins, such as the transport of water in ships and the use of portable desalination plants. 27.5 million are reserved to expand the Besòs drinking water treatment station, 18.6 million for wells and network improvement, 50.5 to help the primary sector and 9 million for fire prevention forestry
Patrícia Plaja has explained that the objective of this measure "is to ensure the investments planned in the short term to deal with the lack of rain and guarantee the supply of water to the population in the face of the severe drought situation and the economic activities affected because of the drought". The Catalan reservoirs that depend on the Ebro Confederation and that feed the provinces of Lleida and Tarragona are in a much better state: they are at 46.27%.
