Alicante 07/20/2023 at 07:39 CEST
Experts warn that the center of the country will suffer more from water restrictions due to the lack of desalination capacity and the parties advocate agreements that allow more use of resources and reuse
Spain is a country that presents enormous inequalities in terms of its water resources, with a north in which water abounds and a southeast, mainly, in which scarcity is the general trend and which puts what is known as the “orchard of Europe” at serious risk. All in all, experts point out that Madrid and the center of the Peninsula are the areas most at risk when it comes to experiencing drought damage, given their lack of capacity to desalinate seawater. As for the transfers from the large basins, such as those of the Duero or the Ebro, there is little optimism, given the difficulty that agreements between autonomous governments have represented, even of the same sign. Despite this, the main formations that attend the 23J elections advocate for the pacts, which sometimes seem impossibleand there are parties that include them in their electoral programs.
The supply of water that depends on rainfall, which accumulates in rivers, reservoirs or aquifers, is becoming smaller, especially in central, southern and eastern Spain, with the Cantabrian area as an exception. For this reason, in the proposals of the parties, more and more is opted for the incorporation of nNew resources, coming from purification and reuse and from the use of desalination and river water. In this context, it also includes the use of water from storms, increasingly frequent between prolonged periods of drought, to use it for washing streets, cleaning parks and gardens or irrigating golf courses. “It is time to be imaginative because the climatic context is quite unfavorable”, says the director of the Climatology Laboratory of the University of Alicante, Jorge Olcina.
The transfers
Regarding the transfers, it is considered that maintaining those in force would already be an achievement, given a scenario in which the water in the headwaters of rivers such as the Tagus or the Júcar begins to be deficient due to the decrease in rainfall. “New transfer projects or recovery of the Ebro is not feasible due to the climatic and political situation, because the confrontation is increasing between the two big parties”, adds Olcina. In coastal areas, more and more territories are irrigated with desalinated water and technology allows costs to go down, with the incorporation of alternative energies such as solar.
Climate projections indicate that rainfall will be increasingly irregular. The Mediterranean area, connected to the sea, will not have supply difficulties. The big problem is in the center of the peninsula, dependent on rainwater and without the capacity to install desolators. “The only source is the reuse of treated water and the administrations have to be aware that it is urgent to incorporate them into our country’s water scheme,” concludes Olcina. University professor Joaquín Melgarejo, who is part of the Popular Party lists for Congress and who speaks of the importance of the circular economy in the water sector, pronounces in a similar vein: “The regeneration of treated water, the uptake of nutrients and energy self-sufficiency are fundamental”.
The electoral proposals of the parties
Regarding the proposals offered by the parties to achieve a greater optimization of water resources and alleviate the effect of the drought, the PSOE points out that water is defended “as a valuable resource in the face of the climate emergency” and is committed to “continue investing in the irrigation modernization and the design of a strategy financing and implementation of renewable energy in the irrigation”.
A national pact for water, based on agreements and consensus between the Government and the autonomies is one of the great commitments of the PP. The strategy of the popular also goes through a National Hydraulic Infrastructure Plan and a National Hydrological Plan. “The last one is from 2001 and, 20 years later, a new plan is necessary. Territorial rivalry must be eliminatedbecause it doesn’t lead anywhere”, adds Melgarejo.
In Vox they also advocate a National Water Plan that allows to face the drought, at the same time that they reject other types of measures, of a more restrictive nature, such as limiting domestic consumption or controlling the opening of swimming pools in the summer. The ultra formation also shies away from what they call “pogre consensus policies” which, in their opinion, are put in place to build the “dystopian discourse of climate change”.
Lastly, some of the proposals incorporated by the Sumar coalition in this field involve shielding access to drinking water as a human right, the creation of specialized units to support administrations for advice on the direct management of the urban water cycle, the renewal and expansion of the supply, sewerage and purification networks or the sustainable use of lakes, wetlands, coastal waters and aquifers.
