If the meteorological trend does not change, Catalonia will have to resort to multiple formulas to guarantee the supply of water to its companies and citizens this summer. One of the most likely is the use of desalinated water that would be transported by boat, and yesterday it emerged that the Valencian Community is willing to provide Catalonia with whatever it can use from its Sagunt plant. The lack of investments from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) during the CiU governments and their successors has contributed to the fact that today this persistent drought cannot be adequately combated. In 2009, the construction of two desalination plants was planned, one in Cunit and a second in Blanes, which were never built. And the proposals of some that were on the table and already planned to intensify the reuse of water in the Besòs area were also forgotten. For many years, the income from the water fee that the ACA received only served to cover the debt of 1.3 billion euros that this organization had.
And paradoxes of life: those governments that did not do their homework well and that prioritized other political objectives over any other force the current one to have to resort to other territories that did do what they had to do. It is a lesson that must be taken into account. The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, yesterday invoked “solidarity between the regions” to give his approval to the operation that was devised by the third vice president of the Government, Teresa Ribera. “Water belongs to everyone,” recalls Mazón, who has a historical conflict in Alicante with the Tajo-Segura transfer.
It cannot be denied that Pere Aragonès has taken the problem of drought very seriously and recognizes that it is the main challenge facing his government. It is debatable whether he could have acted before with the same forcefulness as now, but his will to resolve it is undeniable. If it rains a lot in the coming months, this headache will have been temporarily resolved and the boats will not be needed. But the underlying problem will remain. It is good to learn from past mistakes. And, as we often say, independence may be a respectable goal, but what it is about is governing autonomy well.
