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The drought gives no respite in our country with the entry into emergency phase last February 2 of 202 municipalities of the Ter-Llobregat system. This situation forces the Government of the Generalitat to redouble its efforts when it comes to helping Catalan municipalities to prevent, combat and mitigate the effects of water shortages. The Catalan executive has approved an increase from 90 to 200 million in aid so that local bodies can make investments to deal with the drought.
The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) called last July, and for the first time in its history, an aid line endowed with 50 million euros to help local bodies repair water leaks municipal networks and improve the efficiency of their networks.
The ACA has received an avalanche of requests, more than 880, from more than 700 councils and local bodies. A number that far exceeds the budget initially allocated to the call. To meet all the requests, and in accordance with the Government’s commitment to the local world, the Department of Climate Action has decided to contribute an additional 70 million. Thus, the final allocation of the call will be 120 million euros.
Other grants that double the endowment are those intended for actions by local bodies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. These subsidies – convened last March for the drafting of municipal plans and projects, and in August for the execution of projects – for a total amount of 40 million from the Climate Fund, will finally have an endowment of 80 million euros.
These grants will be allocated as a matter of priority to projects for more efficient water management, such as the drafting of emergency plans or the improvement of water management. According to the type of projects presented, approximately 50% of the total allocation, around 40 million, will be allocated to actions related to the drought.
With these two budget increases announced, the Government will have already allocated almost 560 million euros to deal with the drought situation since the Special Drought Plan (PES) was activated in September 2021.
In addition, the ACA has made available to municipalities and supply companies grants of almost €190 million so that they can improve the supply and ensure that everyone has access to water. There have been 13 million for the improvement and reinforcement of the supra-municipal supply networks; 1 million for the improvement of high flow controls; 40 million to improve the supply at high; 5 million for the co-financing of water transport in tanker trucks and emergency works; 10 million for the recovery and construction of wells; and up to 120 million to improve the efficiency of declining municipal supply networks.
In addition, it has allocated 40 million in aid to local bodies for adaptation to climate change, focusing on drought.
One of the sectors that has suffered the most from the ravages of the drought has been farming. For this reason, the Government has allocated a total of 160 million in aid to this group.
Up to 145 million in direct aid have been made available to the primary sector, through four agricultural tables, to which a fifth package will be added, planned for the next table, to reach 160 million in aid. The Government guarantees that everyone in the countryside can continue with their activity despite it being a terrible campaign due to the lack of water.
Finally, 168 million euros have been allocated for the modernization of irrigation systems. In this package, long-claimed actions such as the modernization of the Valls irrigation system, actions on the Segarra-Garrigues canal and the start of the Xerta-Sénia irrigation works are included.
