“These days, in its normal regime, the Mequinença reservoir is draining 400 cubic meters of water per second (m3/s) and what we are asking for the Barcelona area is 1.5 m3/s”. Carles Conill, spokesman for the Drought Intercollegiate Observatory and president of the environmental commission of the College of Road Engineers, expresses himself with these data.
The Observatori, made up of four professional associations, has once again demanded from the Government the interconnection of Barcelona’s supply network with that of the Ebro as a formula to face the drought emergency. Other institutions and economic sectors have been joining this proposal while the conviction grows that the available water resources are insufficient to provide a response with guaranteed supply in the coming months if it does not rain.
The publication of various images of the Mequinença reservoir, where the Ebro has been flooded to implement its ecological flow regime and renaturalize the river, has projected the image of a river with abundant flows (it is at 82.5% of its capacity ) and has reinforced the arguments of those who advocate the connection of the supply networks of the Consorci d’Aigües de Tarragona and those of the public company Aigües Ter-Llobregat, the major supplier of high water in the region of Barcelona and Girona.
“The Generalitat already knows our proposal, it is a technical proposal, they value it but they believe that there is a lack of social and political awareness to move it forward,” adds Conill. “The scenario is a territory that is thirsty and another where there is plenty of water. That is the reality,” he summarizes.
The interconnection of networks has been promoted by four professional associations (Enginyers de Camins, Industrials, Agrònoms i Economistes), which claim to continue the “mini-transfer” of the Ebro (in Camp de Tarragona) to the region of Barcelona to take advantage of the flows whose assignment are being employed in Tarragona.
“We believe that the interconnection of the Ebro network with the network of the metropolitan region is the only way to provide an effective and rapid response to the problem of drought,” explains Salvador Sedó, director of sustainable development at Foment de Treball. Sedó maintains that if the project is approached through emergency, “the works could be carried out between 6 and 8 months, and concluded before the end of the year.”
Foment del Treball considers that the work should be addressed urgently for two main reasons. One is that “it seems that the Government is only thinking about rain in the next three months”, when it is not clear that this can happen.
And the other reason given is that this solution is considered to be better than transporting water by boat from Tarragona, since this alternative would also entail legal changes, since the 1981 mini-transfer law does not allow water from the Ebro to be transported to the province of Barcelona.
“The Ebro reservoirs releasing water and six million Catalans, without. “I don’t know what country we live in!”, laments Miquel Gotanegra, president of the Girona Camping Association and the Alt Empordà Hospitality Association. Gotanegra considers it “very sad” that, given the precedents of other drought episodes such as that of 2008, the interconnection has not yet been made. “Many European countries have their networks interconnected, but it seems that this does not suit us,” says Gotanegra, who sees the infrastructure as “essential.”
Enric Dotras, president of the hoteliers of Lloret de Mar, highlights: “Many years ago we should have worked on the connection not only of the Ebro; Already in 2008 we were aware that a new cycle of drought could be repeated,” he explains. “It makes no sense that there is a lack of water here and there is too much water in the Ebro and nothing has been done,” adds the president of the Associació Turisme Rural Girona, Ramon Corominas.
Last Friday, tourist representatives of the Costa Brava Center group, an entity that groups hospitality and tourism establishments in the Baix Empordà, met with the Environment Minister, David Mascort; the general director of Tourism of Catalonia, Marta Domènech, and representatives of the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) to show their concern for the impact that this episode may end up having on the sector, which usually starts the season during Holy Week.
The manager of the group Judit Lloberol explains that the option of connecting the Ebro to mitigate the effects of the drought was raised with the political representatives, an option rejected by the political representatives. Lloberol welcomes progress on medium-term projects such as the Tordera desalination plant, but claims that they do not solve the current problem.
“Once again it is late, actions must be taken when the swamps are full and not empty and we have been in this situation for a long time,” he argues. Hoteliers and restaurateurs are concerned that the message of lack of water in Catalonia or possible cuts will cross borders, a fact that could translate into tourist cancellations.
At the moment the sector is preparing to adapt its pools to the new reality, since they can only be filled with seawater. Catalan campsites are working on an ambitious plan to ensure that all their swimming pools function at 100%.
“The sector will fight so that not a single pool is closed; Even if we have to bring seawater in buckets, the facilities will be full,” says Gotanegra, president of the Catunya Camping Federation.
