The business community of Girona demands that the Government of the Generalitat execute the interconnection with the Ebro, as several professional associations in Catalonia have endorsed. They regret the lack of “political will” to make use of resources that would improve the situation.
The Federation of Business Organizations of Girona (FOEG) urges the interconnection to link the supply network of the Ter-Llobregat system (ATL) with that of the Tarragona Water Consortium, which manages the Ebro’s flows.
They consider it “inadmissible” for the Generalitat, before using all available resources, to cushion the drought with the implementation of ERTO. “This fact demonstrates the lack of knowledge and sensitivity about the reality of the business world,” they explain.
They add that “it makes no sense” that 520 cubic meters of water per second have been entering the Mequinenza reservoir in recent days and water has to be released and that the Ebro is at the limit of floods while restrictions are imposed in Girona and Barcelona. “It only makes political sense and the country cannot afford this,” they argue.
They remember that the water supply from the Ebro to Tarragona to the Barcelona region has a water concession granted by law greater than that used. According to Idescat, 2.4 cubic meters are used per second of the 4 that the concession has.
It is – they say – “an infrastructure for emergency use only and in both directions” and they point out that we must continue with all the necessary investments to avoid the recurring use of this interconnection.
Furthermore, the FOEG recalls that the Ter River pact, signed in August 2017, has not been fulfilled. They consider that together with the Llobregat “it is an overexploited river” and “depleted practically since its source.”
The business community remembers that the Susqueda reservoir, which began to be built in 1963, was a controversial project from the beginning, which was opposed by all public organizations; such as city councils and the Chamber of Commerce.
They explain that the arguments given at that time were hydroelectric interest. But they also argued that the dam would regulate the river and prevent flooding, act as a regulatory reservoir for the irrigation of the regions of Girona and finally, that it would become the head of water supply to Barcelona, ??for industrial and drinking uses.
“With the passage of time it has been assumed that the Ter, de facto, flows into Barcelona,” they complain and criticize that after years of drought, no government has done its homework to alleviate the situation.
