The Catalan institutions responsible for water management have begun preparations for the possible need to resort to the use of ships to transport water in a scenario in which the drought worsens. The Barcelona region is going through a critical situation, since the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs are at 19% of their maximum capacity and the Catalan Water Agency does not rule out declaring an emergency even before this level of reserves falls below 16%, as determined by the Generalitat’s special drought plan.
The administrations are activating this plan in the event that the situation continues to worsen.
Transporting water by boat is one of the options on the table; and although it is not a measure intended to provide an immediate response to supply (there are many other previous measures), it is one of the possibilities that appear on the horizon if the absence of precipitation continues in the internal basins of Catalonia. In the current phase, what is being done is to plan the adaptation of the necessary infrastructure to connect the supply in the port of Barcelona “in case it is necessary to implement this measure in the future”, according to sources familiar with these preparations. The chartering of the boats would be finalized for a later phase. Both the decision to hire the boats and the choice of the place of origin of these resources are the responsibility of the Catalan Water Agency.
The same sources indicate that the option of water transportation would not be finalized before the month of February.
In 2008, the Catalan Water Agency was forced to activate a plan to transport water in boats. At that time, two unloadings were carried out in the port of Barcelona. For this, various facilities had to be enabled to facilitate the connection and download. These facilities are currently available, but adaptation would be required. At that time, the water came from the Rhône, specifically from the Philippe Lamour canal, which provided potable flows, while the planned transport of water from the Carboneras desalination plant in Almería never materialized. The rains of May 2018 made the continuation of that supply unnecessary.
The possibility of resorting to transporting water by boat is supported by the law of May 19 of this year on urgent measures to address the drought situation. Both Annex I and Annex II already incorporated this possible measure, as well as others that are now being implemented, such as the expansion of the purification treatment of the groundwater of the Besòs River, improvements to the purification (reverse osmosis) of the Sant Feliu de Llobregat and strengthening of the groundwater purification systems in Sant Joan Despí. In various statements, the director of the Catalan Water Agency, Samuel Reyes, has been publicly referring to the fact that the option of transporting water by boat “is on the table.”
Both the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, and the director of the ACA, Samuel Reyes, warned yesterday that “in the coming days” the country will enter a “pre-emergency” phase, that is, a scenario between the exceptional phase and the emergency. The idea put forward by Reyes is to enter a “preparatory stage that could last between a month and a month and a half” before reaching the state of emergency. This will translate into more restrictions, although the director of the ACA wanted to emphasize that domestic consumption “is guaranteed.”
Catalonia is facing the worst drought it has ever suffered since there is data, that is, since 1915. Therefore, according to Plaja, “extraordinary measures must be taken” without waiting for the reservoirs to reach the limit of 16% (now are at 18.89%).
Reyes stated that it is the “worst drought” due to its duration – for 36 months –, its intensity and the area affected: the Barcelona region (supplied by the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs).
Meanwhile, the company Aigües de Barcelona has been carrying out pressure tests at various points in the supply network in the Barcelona area to check the state of these pipes and evaluate the technical feasibility of generalizing this measure. This possibility appears as an increasingly closer solution in the event that an emergency situation is decreed. Technical tests have shown that savings of 7.6% have been obtained in these areas. If, for example, an advanced phase of the emergency were reached, reducing the pressure would save 20%.
The tests have been carried out (“sampling”) in 16 of the 180 subsectors into which the metropolitan supply network is divided, and have been authorized by the competent administration, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The tests began in September and are now being completed, as explained by Josep Lluís Armenter, project manager for the operations management of Aigües de Barcelona. “These actions have served us above all to gather information and verify whether what the mathematical model tells us fits reality and to be able to make the necessary modifications,” says Armenter. The tests have had “practically no impact” on the supply and there have been no complaints from users.
If its application is necessary, the lowest pressure would be given as a priority in the municipalities that exceed the maximum amount established by the Generalitat (a threshold located in the exceptional phase at 230 liters per person per day, but which would gradually decrease depending on to enter more advanced stages of emergency).
The intention is that the pressure reduction occurs first at night. Aigües de Barcelona admits that, if a pressure reduction has to occur, “unfortunately the first to notice it will be the high floors”, while the lower floors “will not notice it”. For the company, it will inevitably be a reduction in income, but Armenter stressed that “this is not what worries us most now.”
