Madrid (EFE) of Catalonia.
Restricting the watering of gardens and street cleaning, prohibiting the filling of swimming pools and fountains or cutting off the supply of showers on beaches are some of the most used measures to avoid putting “mouth water” at risk due to the lack of rainfall.
In Spain, the Special Drought Plans (PES) distinguish between prolonged or meteorological drought -derived from the lack of rain and which causes flows to be significantly reduced- and hydrological scarcity or drought, related to possible attention problems for demand (supply, irrigation, etc).
The latter usually appears deferred in time with respect to the weather, although it can be avoided or delayed thanks to system management or because demand drops.
in emergency situation
According to the latest drought monitoring report from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, at the end of May there were 26 Territorial Drought Units (UTS) in an emergency situation in the Guadiana (7), Ebro (6), Guadalquivir (5) basins. , Andalusian Mediterranean (4) and 1 in Tajo, Segura, Tinto, Odiel and Piedras.
With 27% less rainfall in the first semester compared to the same period last year, Spanish reservoirs are at 46.5% of their capacity and store 36,030 hm³, 27.6% less than the average water reserve of the last ten years.
The basins in the worst state are those of Guadalete-Barbate (22.4%), Guadalquivir (23.1%), Guadiana (29.7%), internal Catalonia (30.6%) and Andalusian Mediterranean (32.5%). %), whose situation contrasts with those of the Eastern and Western Cantabrian Islands (both at 90.4%).
By autonomies, according to data prepared by Embalses.net, they are below 50%: Cantabria (44.2%), Catalonia (47.3%), Extremadura (46.5%), Murcia (37.8%) and Andalusia (25.8%).
Asturias is at 91%, Galicia at 71%, Cantabria at 44%, the Basque Country at 73%, Navarra at 67%, Aragon at 50.5%, Castilla y León at 62%, La Rioja at 67%, Madrid at 61 % and the Valencian Community at 52.8%.
Estremadura
In this context, in Extremadura, the nine municipalities of the Commonwealth of Tentudía (Badajoz) suffer night-time cuts in the supply of drinking water after the activation of phase III of the Drought Emergency Plan, which also provides for cuts in suburban areas and the prohibition watering gardens and green areas, filling fountains or cleaning the streets.
Neither can you wash vehicles or fill public or private pools, a measure that the 21 municipalities of the Commonwealth of Llerena (Badajoz) have suffered for a long time, in which water consumption has been limited to 189 liters per person per day.
Catalonia
In Catalonia, the exceptional situation decreed on March 2 continues in 495 municipalities, including the entire Barcelona conurbation and in which more than 6 million people live.
This entails restrictions on the use of water to irrigate parks and gardens (except for survival), agriculture (-40% endowment), industry (-15%) and recreational purposes (between -15 and -50%).
It is forbidden to fill private swimming pools and street cleaning and water consumption is limited to 230 liters per person per day, an amount that includes all consumption (domestic, agricultural or industrial) but which, in any case, exceeds the usual expense of a household, so for practical purposes there are no restrictions on drinking water.
Some municipalities in Tarragona, such as L’Espluga de Francolí, which are not connected to the public supply network and are supplied by wells, have been in an emergency situation for more than a year and the water reaches them via vat trucks.
Andalusia
In Andalusia, in the north of the province of Córdoba, some 80,000 residents of Alto Guadiato and Los Pedroches have had no regular supply since the end of March, when the Sierra Boyera reservoir dried up and the water from La Colada arrived contaminated by anomalous values. of organic carbon.
Since then, and also due to problems with the generator sets that pump the water, residents have been supplied by collecting water in tanker trucks.
To the south of the province, in Lucena, night supply cuts are applied due to the drop in municipal tanks in recent days and weekly watering in parks and gardens has been reduced to a minimum.
In Malaga, in four municipalities of the Axarquía (Vélez-Málaga, El Borge, Almáchar and Iznate) there are nocturnal water cuts due to the situation of the La Viñuela reservoir, which supplies them and is at 9% of its capacity.
Colmenar receives four tanks of water a day and in Rincón de la Victoria the supply of showers and beach footbaths has been cut off. Restrictions also apply to municipalities on the Western Costa del Sol, such as Torremolinos.
Other towns such as Coín, Cártama or Alhaurín de la Torre have issued edicts in which they recall the Junta’s restrictions on the use of drinking water to fill private pools, irrigate gardens and wash cars outside authorized establishments, as well as in ornamental fountains without closed water circuit.
The drought has led some municipalities on the coast of Cádiz, such as Chipiona, San Roque, Vejer de la Frontera or Zahara de los Atunes, to eliminate showers and footbaths from their beaches: according to calculations by environmental groups, a shower on the beach consumes 120,000 liters of water per day.
In the rest of the autonomies, according to the data collected by EFE, the authorities have not agreed on limitations, but they all call on citizens to make responsible use of water.