The Government plans to finance the construction of the new Blanes desalination plant in the coming years, which will involve an investment of 220 million euros. This infrastructure, one of the key works to improve the guarantee of supply in the Barcelona and Girona region, was one of the actions that the Generalitat has been demanding from the central Administration.
The Councilor for Climate Action, Teresa Jordà, assesses "positively" that the Ministry has responded to the demand related to the desalination plant in Blanes. "What is being asked is a fair deal with Catalonia, an investment commitment to minimize the water deficit in the internal basins", he explains.
“We hope that this announcement does not remain just words in an electoral context. It is necessary that the investment promise be executed in time and in the manner required by the current context of climate emergency”, adds Jordà. The Government has accelerated the processing of this infrastructure so that the final project and the tender for the works can be drawn up this 2023 so that it enters into service by 2025
The minister is also satisfied that many of the measures for the primary sector presented at the Ministry of Agriculture's drought table, held in April, have been included, such as the moratorium on the farm book or the relaxation of the CAP, " although the proposals will have to be analyzed carefully”
“Beyond today's announcement, as far as the water cycle is concerned, we do not renounce that Madrid take into account the other investments planned by this Government. And we reiterate the offer of an agreement for the modernization of the Urgell Canal, where the urgency of improving access to water is a key issue”.
The hydraulic works package of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition totals 1,400 million and includes new desalination plants, facilities to increase the reuse of reclaimed water in urban areas and the reduction of fees and rates for the affected farms.
The intention is to speed up the construction of these infrastructures, many of which are included in the hydrological plans (2022-2027). Some will be addressed immediately, since it is about the construction of emergency wells.
On the Mediterranean coast, the desalination plants in Málaga and Almería –200 million–, in addition to the one in Blanes, as well as reuse works in Alicante, with an investment of 224 million, have been declared works of general interest.
It is also promised to promote the reuse of reclaimed urban water, so that it increases from the current 400 hm3 per year to close to 1,000 hm3 per year in 2027 and comes to represent 20% of the volume of water resources destined to supply populations. For this reason, the royal decree modifies the Water Law.
Likewise, to help irrigators who in 2023 suffer cuts in water allocations, an exemption from the regulation fee and the water use fee will be applied. This exemption will be 50% if the endowment decrease is from 40% to 60%, and 100% if it exceeds that 60%. The indirect beneficiaries of the regulation works of the Guadalquivir basin are directly exempt from 50% of said quotas.
To reduce the overexploitation of the aquifers of the Doñana National Park, the Executive has approved the replacement of the groundwater pumps that supply the Matalascañas conurbation (Almonte, Huelva) with surface water from the Palos water treatment plant – Tinto basin , Odiel and Piedras– as well as the transfer of 3 hm3 per year. The works necessary to execute this transfer and supply the municipality will be assumed by the central State.
