Catalonia is experimenting with ways to live with drought

On Thursday 1 February, Catalonia launched thedrought emergency, after experiencing the second month of the hottest year ever recorded in the area with thresholds above 0.8 degrees centigrade compared to the average temperature recorded from 1991 to 2020.The decision came from the administration after having noted a reduction in the reserves of the water basins outside below the 16% threshold indicated in the Drought Plan, and has led to the application of numerous measures to deal with the water crisis that is affecting the region, and involving approximately 6 million people.The measures taken include limiting water consumption for agriculture, industry and private use with a view to "growing pressure to accelerate adaptation efforts".The Copernicus study center is monitoring the situation, and has presented a study to analyze how Catalonia is adapting to the emergency situation.

The study conducted by Copernicus and published in collaboration with the newspaper Euronews analyzes Catalonia's efforts to adapt to the water emergency resulting from drought, which, although an extraordinary phenomenon, highlights data without historical precedents.In fact, if on the one hand it is true that it is not the first time that Catalonia has found itself in difficult conditions in managing drought and water resources, on the other hand one cannot avoid noticing how the relative numbers, for example, at temperatures are well above of normal off-parameter recording.The scarcity of water resources is in fact bordering on historic lows.As she reports Euronews, The Sau basin, one of the main ones in the region, is practically emptied of its artificial waters, while in the hinterland of the region the famous waterfalls once a tourist attraction they are now dried up.

The first measures adopted saw a limit reduction daily water consumption of 200 liters per person per day, with the recommendation, where possible, not to go beyond 90.This limit includes the liters of water consumed by each person for themselves and for their domestic environment, but also those consumed by businesses, industrial activities, offices and municipalities.These restrictions also apply to tourists and arrive at prohibit the dispersion of water for certain activities:it is in fact forbidden to irrigate the gardens, the grass of the sports fields (except in the case in which the structures compensate for the use of this water, for example by closing the showers), fill the swimming pools and wash your car privately.

Parallel to public restrictions, there are also private initiatives, all focused on water recycling.This is done, for example, by a hotel facility that has been reusing water from showers and sinks in its facilities for 25 years now. toilets, saving tons of water.The hotel itself is collaborating with a team of scientists to try to see if it is possible to purify gray water enough to reuse it for irrigation and growing vegetables.Another company, however, reuses gray water in cleaning activities.Paradoxically, it seems to be the Spanish legislation that is holding back this type of initiative, according to which at the moment one is only authorized to use the 10% of the treated water.

Catalonia is a region that has already had to face the problem of drought and scarcity of water resources, so much so that today present and functioning numerous installations built in response to the long period without rain that hit the region towards the end of the 2000s.Among these is the El Prat de Llobregat desalination plant, which is still in operation 24 hours a day using renewable energy. The plant meets 25% of the region's water demand, however its use, which consists in the withdrawal of Mediterranean waters about 2km from the coast to transform it into drinking water, is characterized by a very high energy expenditure and at an equally high cost.What uses less energy and is more sustainable also from a cost point of view is the structure of water regeneration which like El Prat still functions at full capacity.It consists of a purification plant that treats the water already used, and then supplies it to a second machine that processes it through further filtering systems, "treating 180,000 m3 of water per day and satisfying another 25% of demand".The water then comes transported approximately 16 kilometers upstream to be reintroduced into the Llobregat river and mix with natural water.Only at that point, it is re-extracted, filtered and introduced into the system, giving life to a artificial water cycle.

The operating system of the water regeneration system follows European legislation and gives rise to advantages also from an environmental point of view because it supports natural ecosystems and keeps the presence of water alive in the natural territory.Despite this, Catalonia is still suffering from the conditions of drought, which has affected numerous countries in recent years, Including Italy, And it is not yet clear when the imposed limits will be definitively removed.As numerous scientists interviewed by believe Euronews, However, the recycling initiatives of Catalan private individuals and the technological systems of the region are not intended only to serve to deal with water crises, but intend to constitute a first step towards rethinking man's relationship with the environment and with the management and resource administration.

[by Dario Lucisano]