The El Prat del Llobregat desalination plant, near Barcelona, the largest in Europe for urban water supply, November 28, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Josep LAGO)
Barcelona and its outskirts were placed in a state of “emergency” on Thursday and will face new water restrictions due to the historic drought affecting this region of Spain, where water reserves have reached a critical level .
This decision, announced by the president of the Catalan regional government Pere Aragonès, will result in new limits on water consumption for nearly six million inhabitants, with significant reductions in particular for industry and agriculture.
“Catalonia is suffering from its worst drought in a century,” explained Mr. Aragonès, recalling that the lack of precipitation in the region had lasted for more than three years.
Catalan authorities had prepared the opinion in recent weeks by indicating that a state of emergency would be declared if the level of reservoirs, which store rainwater for use in drier months, fell below 16 %.
However, this level has been reached in recent days, the persistence of dry weather having aggravated the already extreme drought of the soil on the Catalan coast, both in France and in Spain.
– 202 municipalities affected –
The entry into the first phase of the state of “emergency”, which includes three, will result in significant restrictions for agriculture, which will have to reduce its water consumption by 80% (compared to 40% so far), and for industry, which will have to restrict it by 25% (instead of 15%).
The Sau dam, at very low water levels, in the province of Girona, January 15, 2024 in Catalonia (AFP/Archives/LLUIS GENE)
The maximum average consumption ceiling for residents of the 202 municipalities affected by the restrictions has been lowered slightly and will be further reduced if the situation worsens.
Apart from a few municipalities where tap pressure will decrease, this measure will not currently result in water cuts for residents. But sanctions are planned for localities that do not respect this maximum threshold.
This emergency plan also prohibits the filling of swimming pools, even for a simple upgrade, except with rare exceptions.
An important measure for this very touristy region with a large number of hotels.
Drought in early January 2024 (AFP/Sophie RAMIS, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Sabrina BLANCHARD)
Watering green spaces is also now prohibited, except with non-potable water in public gardens when the survival of trees is at stake. Same thing for washing cars.
If the level of reserves continues to fall, the authorities will put in place even tougher restrictions, such as closing showers in sports halls or completely banning watering in public gardens.
The Catalan government, which has not ruled out eventually supplying Barcelona with tankers, will meet on Monday with the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, to see to what extent Madrid could help bring water to the region.
– “Dramatic situation” –
Periods without rain are not atypical in this Mediterranean region, which had already experienced a year and a half of drought in 2008. But the current precipitation deficit is unprecedented since records began in 1916.
The lack of precipitation “has lasted for a very long time. If it continues for another year, the situation will be dramatic”, assures Xavier Sánchez Vila, director of the civil and environmental engineering department at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).
The Zahara-El Gastor reservoir, in the province of Cádiz, during an episode of drought, December 29, 2023 in Andalusia (AFP/Archives/JORGE GUERRERO)
The situation is similar in Andalusia (South), another region of Spain hit hard by drought and which plans to introduce water restrictions if the rain does not come, notably in Seville and Malaga.
Given the situation, “we need 30 days of rain” in a row, recently declared the president of this region, Juan Manuel Moreno, who also did not rule out a supply of drinking water by boat.
Faced with the effects of the drought, which pushed farmers to demonstrate on Thursday in Seville, Mr. Moreno asked Brussels this week to activate its solidarity fund, while temperatures of around 30°C were reached at the end of January in its region and in eastern Spain.
A European country on the front line of global warming, Spain has seen an increase in extreme weather phenomena for several years, particularly heat waves, the frequency of which has tripled in ten years.
The latter strongly affect ecosystems, particularly in Andalusia, where the Doñana natural park, a vast wetland classified by UNESCO, welcomed a historically low number of migratory birds last year, in a context of accelerated desertification, according to a scientific report published Thursday.
© 2024 AFP
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