The urgency to solve the lack of water in the central region of Catalonia, Girona and the Costa Brava rises one step every day. Foment de Treball endorses and supports the proposal of four professional associations to connect the Ebro water network of the Consorci d’Aigües de Tarragona (CAT) with that of the metropolitan network of Barcelona. The businessmen also ask the Government to authorize that this summer the hotel pools can be filled (“to avoid the economic debacle of the tourism sector”), that the works be accelerated to capture more groundwater in the Besòs and that the temporary employment regulation files and compensation and aid to the affected industrial sectors if they must stop forced by restrictions on the use of water.
The latest rains have not helped to recover the level of the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs. And, meanwhile, the proposal to bring water from the Ebro ministrasvase to Camp de Tarragona to the Barcelona region obtains new support. Foment, the employers’ association, highlights that this solution is technically endorsed by various professional associations, engineering companies and construction companies and was even put on the table by the management of the Catalan Water Agency last year.
The Sequera Intercol·legial Observatory has presented this proposal as an infrastructure that would only be activated in emergency situations (like the current one) and would also be reversible, so that it could respond to the supply needs of the CAT from the Ebro if it were gave technical problems.
“There is no technical or economic problem for not carrying out this interconnection of networks, since within a period of eight months this infrastructure can be completed and fully operational,” says Salvador Sedó, from Foment.
Foment del Treball demands that the Government execute the infrastructure and investments agreed upon in the law on urgent measures against drought approved in May 2023. And to avoid further delays, it demands that these actions be addressed through emergency means, to quickly overcome the administrative procedures and reduce the associated bureaucracy.
At this point, they refer to the need to give priority to investment projects in the Besós basin, especially the expansion and immediate improvement of the Besós drinking water treatment station (Trinitat, Barcelona), which is experiencing delays. , and whose expansion could provide the capture of an additional 20 hm3/year of groundwater.
In the same way, new collections of groundwater and surface water in this basin and the acceleration of projects for the construction of a water regeneration station in the basin are demanded.
Businessmen ask that all measures be taken to guarantee access to water in the affected productive sectors and that compensatory measures be implemented to alleviate the effects of the restrictions.
In this sense, they are in favor of lifting the restrictions that prevent filling the pools of hotels and other tourist establishments.
They even suggest modifying the special drought plan to allow them to be filled by transporting water collected in other territories that are not in a drought situation, something that is now prohibited.
“We cannot lose the tourist season and much less do it with announcements that are out of common sense, such as prohibiting the filling of swimming pools, since this represents between 1 and 2% of the total water consumption of a hotel establishment while prohibiting it has a very important impact on tourist reserves,” say Foment spokespersons.
The tourism sector directly represents 12% of the GDP and indirectly 20% (if the contribution in the restaurant, leisure, culture or auxiliary industry sectors is considered).
Likewise, to avoid economic impacts on the tourism sector, it is deemed necessary to “encourage the use of treated seawater” (in filling swimming pools) and streamline the administrative procedures for this this season.
Likewise, it is suggested that “water restrictions in tourist establishments be carried out on the entire consumption of the establishment.”
The employers assume another of the companies’ demands and request that the reuse of regenerated water be allowed for industrial, livestock and agricultural uses, through the deployment of current regulations. In this sense, it is requested that administrative actions be taken to enable its immediate application, so that the various sectors can make use of regenerated water to replace drinking water.
The demand of farmers is also supported, and it is taken into account that those agricultural operations that have invested in more efficient irrigation systems with less water use “do not have such important restrictions.”
The document also echoes the demands of gardeners (about 13,000 in Catalonia), and requests that non-potable water be used for irrigation to survive trees and in gardening in both the public and private sectors. Now the exception to irrigate with groundwater and regenerated resources only affects public gardens.
Another request is that (when presenting water saving plans, with which industries can avoid such drastic cuts) a system of standardization of water reduction in industrial uses be established based on the water footprint and the water certificate.
And, as has already been made public, the proposal to create the figure of “essential sectors” is recalled, those that should remain outside the restrictions.
The petition aims to avoid the impact on the meat or food distribution sector, which requires a lot of water consumption and can be greatly affected if the pressure drops, as they need water to maintain their equipment.
The employers demand that the Government establish compensatory measures in the event that, due to the restrictions, production stoppages must occur.
In this circumstance, the application of the employment regulation files (ERTE) would have to be “expedited.”
Another effect would be the need to “assume compensation and economic aid for those industrial sectors and services that have to stop production due to restrictions on water supply,” explains Sedó.
