The lack of rain for several months in Spain has put the authorities on alert and in some areas of the country measures have already been taken that directly affect the population’s water consumption. The agricultural sector is suffering from a lack of water and considers the winter cereal crop to be lost. This Wednesday will meet the Agriculture Sectoral Conference, which will ask the Government to make CAP aid more flexible and specify the measures.
The government of Catalonia will decree the exception for Drought in 495 municipalities and water restrictions that will affect about 6 million people and the endowment will be 230 liters per person and day.
This was stated by the spokesperson of the Government, Patricia Plaja, in a press conference this Tuesday, after the meeting of the Executive Council, where they said that there are now 224 municipalities in exceptional situations and that they will become 495, therefore. That “It will mean another step in the reduction of water in some uses”.
Especially, it will reduce 40% of agricultural use, to 15% of industrial use and there will be less water for recreational use and a ban on irrigation in both public and private green areas. I know too prohibit cleaning streets with drinking water and the water supply been reduced to 230 liters per person with water, from 250 until now.
The director of Agència Catalana d’Azur (ACA), Samuel Reyes, explained that the new exceptional phase will affect about 6 million people in the total of 495 municipalities, in addition to 38 municipalities on alert, and 54 on pre-alert. and 43 in normal.
The new units that entered this exceptional phase are the Anoia-Gaià area, Ter head, Empordà , Llobregat Mitjà , Prades, Darius Boadella reservoir, Llaberia area, and Serralada Transversal.
In the Ter-Llobregat area, it rained during the past weekend, but Reyes said that “In two days we cannot solve the situation in 30 months”, so they are not enough, nor the situation has changed. The update on the state of emergency will be published next week in the official journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (Dogc).
“Until today, no disciplinary procedure has been initiated for an excess of endowment in any of the municipalities,” pointed out Samuel Reyes. Although he insisted councils should be “reprimanded” about current water restrictions and asked them to comply with them and take the necessary measures, he commended councils that were doing so.
As for the use of showers on the beaches, affirmed that the prohibitions are not foreseen, although many municipalities have prohibited or reduced them, but like swimming pools, showers “can also be a climate refuge in certain situations”, for those who cannot enter the water at times of heat stroke.
“Worst case scenario” in Aragon
Likewise, in Aragon, the agrarian organizations and the General Directorate of Agriculture of the regional government agree on this extraordinary severity that causes scarcity of water. The Minister of Agriculture, JoaquÃn Olona, ​​recognizes that the worst predictions are coming true and considers that the most serious damage due to the drought has not yet occurred with millions of losses.
For this reason, Olona will ask in the sector meeting that he will have with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, to accelerate the collection of the CAP. In addition, Aragon will make some requirements more flexible to guarantee aid to farmers who do not comply with the results as a direct consequence of the water shortage.
He will “worst case scenario” for some crops, such as dryland cereals that are already considered lost. The Aragonese government, they believe that the Ebro Confederation will declare a situation of emergency due to drought in various systems of the community.
