The Catalan Government is getting some oxygen after 42 months of suffocation. After a continuous aggravation of the drought, it finally takes a step towards de-escalation. The Executive has decided to lift the emergency phase in the Ter-Llobregat system, which supplies around six million people in the metropolitan area of ??Barcelona and part of Girona. The restrictions on the use of water can be moderated thanks to the rains that have happened since March. “The increase in reserves makes it possible to modify downward the restrictions of the last three months, to leave the emergency and to lift part of the restrictions, despite the fact that the drought is not over”, said the spokeswoman of the Government, Patrícia beach
When the emergency situation is lifted, the exceptionality phase is entered. The measures are softened, so that the water allocations for the municipalities will be increased again (up to 230 liters per person per day) and the restrictions that govern the various activities are reduced, especially serious in the case of the ‘agriculture
And, above all, this way also resolves the controversial issue of swimming pools, which have caused so many headaches, claims and litigation to the Executive.
Public and private pools can be refilled, as long as they were full before (cannot be refilled if they were empty). It will no longer be necessary to justify the opening of swimming pools due to the fact that they are considered climate shelters by the councils, which was an agreed way to open municipal swimming pools.
In other words, with the new exceptional situation, private swimming pools for individual or single-family use will not be allowed to be filled under any circumstances. On the other hand, it is allowed to partially fill, or refill, these public and private swimming pools as long as they have a water recirculation system (and in the quantities necessary to guarantee the sanitary quality of the water). Exceptionally, a first filling is allowed as long as they are newly built pools or have been the subject of renovation works or modification of the vessel. Municipal or other publicly accessible swimming pools benefit from it, such as those in tourist establishments, sports centres, leisure centres, owner communities, agritourism or the like, as well as therapeutic use pools located in hospitals and special education centers.
The interdepartmental drought commission agreed to return to the scenario of exceptionality in the Ter-Llobregat area following the improvement of the reserves. Currently the level of the reservoirs is 24.8%, with a volume of 154 hm3. A determining factor has been the rains (precipitation has exceeded the average of recent years by 25%), the thaw and, to a lesser degree, less consumption. In March the level of reservations here reached a minimum of 14.5%.
In addition, the forecast is that, with the recent rains and the thaw, the reservoirs will still increase in volume until they reach 160 hm3 at the end of this week, added the minister.
On whether Sunday’s Catalan elections influenced the decision, Councilor David Mascort explained that the data already justify moving to the exceptional situation. “I am offended by the question. If anyone thinks it’s because elections are coming, they don’t know me. We have a drought plan and it tells us what to do at every moment. We have always said that the first day we could, we would lift the emergency because it affects the economy. Tourism suffers less from the drought than farmers or the ecological flow,” he said.
The councilor remarked: “We said that we would not lift the emergency and, 15 days later, decree it again”. With the decision, the Government ensures agricultural activity (“the farmers of Ter and Muga are the ones who have suffered the most”), protects the environment and prevents the drought from having a direct impact on jobs that depend on economic activities.
Mascort argued that “we are in the same situation as last summer, but much better prepared as a country”. In May 2023, 65% of the water consumed by the Barcelona area came from reservoirs, while now it represents only 50%, he declared. At the same time, general consumption this quarter has fallen by 10% on average compared to the previous period.
The councilor also recalled that, with the entry once again into exceptionality, the minimum environmental flows are being recovered to better promote the biodiversity of rivers and bodies of water.
With the available data, the region served by the Ter and the Llobregat can remain in the exceptional situation at least until the end of the year, considering a scenario of “historical minimum rainfall” during this period. Even if it rained “the minimum”, it is not expected that the emergency will be declared again before the end of the year. If, on the contrary, in the autumn the rains are more generous than usual, as has happened for the moment in the spring, the phase of exceptionality could be extended even further.
Nevertheless, the citizen platform Aigua és Vida considered that the exit from the emergency is a measure “with an eye on the short term” and that “it may jeopardize the availability of water in the autumn”.
