Rainfall allows Spain’s Catalonia to ease water restrictions for 1st time during drought
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/05/2024 (580 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s Catalonia region will ease restrictions on water use for a wide area including Barcelona after recent rainfall palliated a prolonged drought, regional authorities said Tuesday.
Catalonia declared a drought emergency in February when its reservoirs fell under 16% capacity after nearly three years of below-average rainfall. But steady rain in recent weeks has boosted reserves to nearly 25%. Spain’s reservoirs overall are at 66% full.
The loosened restrictions mean that some 6 million people will now see individual use limits increased from 200 to 230 liters per day (53 to 61 gallons). Catalonia’s water agency says the average resident uses 116 liters (30 gallons) per day at home.
Famers will only have to reduce their average uses by 40%, instead of 80%, while industrial users will only have to save 15% compared to 25%.
David Mascort, who heads Catalonia’s environmental authority, said that plans were still intact to install a floating desalination plant off Barcelona’s coast in October. He said that Catalonia’s reserves for the areas fed by the Ter and Llobregat rivers were now near the same level as the previous year.
“We are in the same situation as last year, but this time, we are better prepared. If in May 2023 some 65% of our water came from our reservoirs, now it is only 50%” thanks to an expansion in Catalonia’s water reuse and desalination infrastructure, Mascort said.
However, Catalonia’s government spokeswoman, Patrícia Plaja, warned that “the drought is not over.”