The Spanish Government is preparing to transport water by boat to Barcelona from the Sagunt desalination plant (in Valencia) to face the emergency situation in the central region of Catalonia, including areas of Girona and the Costa Brava, due to the drought. This was confirmed to this newspaper by sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, who specified that “it would not be an immediate action”, but rather “towards the summer.” Meanwhile, a stage opens to organize logistical preparations and analyze the evolution of the emergency. The president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, has given his approval to this approach out of solidarity between communities.
The Government’s willingness to transport water by boat from this State desalination plant comes after various social sectors have expressed their rejection of transporting water by boat using funds from the Ebro mini-transfer concession in Tarragona. The Sagunt option – or what could be called the Spanish solidarity solution – also postpones the alternative consisting of connecting the Ebro water network of the Consorci d’Aigües de Tarragona in Tarragona with the metropolitan network of Barcelona, ??as four professional associations have claimed. and Foment del Treball, among other sectors.
President Carlos Mazón was the first to anticipate the announcement to transport water from Sagunt, explaining that he had received the call from Minister Teresa Ribera and that he had shown his support for this decision by invoking “solidarity between regions.” He also obtained guarantees that the desalinated water transported will have a priority and almost exclusive use for domestic consumption, as corresponds to the emergency situation.
The details of the ministry’s decision will be announced tomorrow at the minister’s visit to Barcelona, ??where she will hold an interview with the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort. The forecast is that the transport of water by boat to Barcelona will be carried out on a daily basis, although it remains to be determined when the operation would be launched, something that will depend on the evolution of the emergency situation. The initial forecast is that it will be activated towards the summer, when it may enter a more advanced phase of the emergency if it does not rain.
Meanwhile, the reservoirs in the Barcelona region continue to fall; They accumulate 99 hm3 of reserves, a figure below the 100 hm3 that marks the emergency threshold in grade I, and they only store 16.2% of their total capacity. However, transport by boat (which could carry about 40,000 m3 on average) could only contribute 8% of the daily consumption of the metropolitan area, according to sources familiar with this type of operations.
Sources from the Department of Climate Action admit that there have been contacts between Acuamed (the state company that manages the Sagunto plant) and the public company Ens d’Abastament d’Aigua Ter-Llobregat (ATL), which would be in charge of coordinating the tasks to carry water from Valencia to Catalonia.
This initiative of the ministry would involve increasing the capacity of Sagunt’s infrastructure. The minister has guaranteed that the increase in the capacity of the desalination plant above 15% has no impact on the needs of the province of Valencia.
On Thursday, Minister Mascort already warned that “the complicated thing is finding boats.” And regarding the meeting that he will have with Ribera, he expressed hope in finding “the formula to bring water to Barcelona if necessary.” “I have said many times that the relevant thing is not where it comes from, but that when we need it we can go look for it and have it ready,” he remarked.
Secretary of State Hugo Morán already guaranteed a few days ago, in statements to La Vanguardia, the State’s willingness to transfer water from the desalination plants on the Spanish coast if necessary.
Morán indicated that it is up to the Government to first gauge the needs, look for shipping companies and guarantee the connection before the ministry intervenes.