Confusion and concern in the Catalan industry. Various sectors have expressed concern regarding the lack of clear and simple guidelines on how the obligation to reduce water consumption by 25% should be applied in the current emergency phase. The director of sustainable development at Foment del Treball, Salvador Sedó, has conveyed the unrest that exists in various business sectors due to what he considers a lack of communication between companies, city councils and the Catalan Water Agency (ACA). He regrets that the Generalitat has not given a “clear instruction” to the municipalities on how the reduction in consumption should be carried out.
Industries that are large consumers of water (with more than 500,000 m3) are under the supervision of the ACA, to which they have already reported their consumption. But in the case of industries connected to the general network, competition remains under the responsibility of the town councils. The Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia admits that the distribution of powers requires clarifications.
The special drought plan establishes that in the current emergency phase, municipalities cannot exceed a provision of 200 liters per person per day for all uses (urban, commercial, domestic). According to some interpretations, the industry is included in the general objective and is counted jointly with the rest of the uses (some municipalities have a greater endowment taking into account the weight of their industry), but other voices believe that the specific objective of the 25%. Everything is up to the city councils. Savador Sedó has regretted that this decision has been left in the hands of the interpretation of the city councils, without “a clear order.”
On the other hand, municipalities should have a specific ordinance if they want to enforce this requirement, according to PSC sources. However, city councils do not have personnel to carry out this control, according to the same sources.
The special drought plan also indicates that the holders of water uses (a well concession…) can propose percentage savings of flows lower than those established (25%) and for which they can present a savings plan that justify the proposed reduction.
However, business owners consider that there are uncertainties in the cases of industries that have previously made their savings plans or have made investments in regeneration and recycling and that do not know if they also have to cut water consumption by 25% having achieved already significant savings.
In the opinion of all of them it does not make sense to demand the same restrictions for those industries that have already presented consumption reduction plans to the Catalan Water Agency, and that are already adopting measures, as those that have not done so. .
“We don’t know how this average 25% reduction will affect us. We understand that the water saving plans of the industry connected to the general network must be presented to the municipalities, but I doubt that they are prepared,” says Josep Moré, vice president of Texfor/Confederation of the Textile Industry, which brings together the yarn sector. , fabrics, dyes and finishes from all over Spain. “Are industries that have already made investments in water saving going to be asked for a 25% cut again?” Moré asks with concern.
Foment del Treball has also asked the Generalitat to take into account, when regulating possible reductions in water pressure, certain “essential services”, such as the agri-food industry or certain areas of logistics in distribution.
Ignasi Pons, general secretary of the Business Federation of Meat and Meat Industries (Fecic), warns about the strong impact that water restriction can have on the activity of the sector (slaughterhouses, cutting plants), which is why companies are evaluating the consequences. This work area requires a lot of water consumption, because strict hygienic measures have to be adopted (cleaning of slaughterhouses, trucks, stables…); and, although it is reducing consumption and optimizing cleaning, it has not been possible to deploy its proposals to reuse water. “The solution is that we can reuse the water, but the regulations do not allow it,” he laments. The reused water could be used to clean animal transport trucks or outdoor facilities, adds Pons. “We need legislation that allows it.”
The situation in Catalonia also marks the political agenda in Aragon. After learning that the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, will meet on Monday with the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort, in a meeting in which possible emergency solutions for the drought in Catalonia will be addressed), the president of Aragon Yesterday, Jorge Azcón, requested by letter an “urgent meeting” with the representative of the Socialist Government to express his rejection of any interconnection of the Ebro water network in Tarragona with that of the metropolitan area of ??Barcelona, ??clearly labeled as “transfer.” .
“I can’t imagine that if the minister is going to meet with the Generalitat, she will not do so with the Government of Aragon. No decision can be made about the Ebro without first listening to the people of Aragon,” Azcón said, assuming that they are going to talk about it. The Aragonese president held an institutional interview with the new president of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE), Carlos Arrazola.
The so-called “transfer of the Ebro River” is a capital – and thorny – issue in Aragon, where mass mobilizations against some attempts to transfer flows have already been recorded in the past.
The fact that Ribera did not recently rule out “extraordinary measures” in the face of emergency situations in Catalonia put many parties in the region on guard, as speculation quickly arose and suspicions were raised that the central government could use the “transfer” as an element of “negotiation with the independentists.”
“We are worried because we have seen transfers to Catalonia that we previously thought were impossible to occur,” Azcón said. The Aragonese leader fears that if the Catalan Government puts network interconnection on the table it would be “a new blackmail that the Government of Pedro Sánchez will accept. And that is going over Aragón and its interests,” he added. But the reality is that the Government of the Generalitat has rejected this possibility. Regarding the lack of water in Catalonia, the Aragonese president indicated that they are waiting to know what proposals the ministry and the Generalitat have to evaluate them. He also urged the Catalan authorities to do a “deep reflection” on how this situation has come to be. “Their problem is that they have been more concerned with independence or amnesty than with water,” he criticized.