2024-02-20 20:53:12
Barcelona The severity of the water crisis that Catalonia is experiencing is unprecedented and the forecasts that the situation will improve in the coming months are not very optimistic. Faced with this scenario, this afternoon Parliament held a monographic plenary session on the drought and climate change to present and debate proposals to deal with it. Let’s review the most prominent ones.
Collaboration with the local world
The PSC is the only one that makes a clear proposal in this area and asks to modify the sanctioning regime for the councils. Likewise, it proposes to create a Drought Fund – financed, among others, with the resources collected by the files themselves – in order to provide local bodies with all the resources necessary to monitor water consumption. Together, in turn, it underlines the need for the payment of aid to the municipalities to be effective – a measure also claimed by the PSC -, while the CUP urges to modify the current legislation to allow the municipal management of the water supply service water to all municipalities that so desire.
Accelerate the infrastructures: Tordera and Besòs
Together with the PSC, they demand the implementation of the infrastructure provided for in the urgent measures law approved in May. In this sense, the socialists urge to prioritize investments in the Besòs basin, while Junts asks to speed up the expansion of the Tordera desalination plant and guarantee the park of solar panels that must supply it with energy. For the CUP, it is necessary to prioritize works on sewage treatment plants that use water to clean aquifers. ERC and the commons will hold in the chamber the rejection of the transfer of the Ebro.
Tourism, in the spotlight
The communes and the CUP are the ones who are more critical of the tourism sector. The cupaires, on the one hand, defend a moratorium on mass tourism that limits overnight stays and restricts water consumption. The communes, on the other hand, propose to establish specific restrictions for the sector. The PSC emphasizes the swimming pools of hotel establishments, and wants them to be filled when consumption is below the thresholds established by the drought plan. In the same vein, the board members choose to encourage the use of treated seawater in the tourism sector, especially to fill swimming pools.
Farming: aid and modernizing irrigation
Together, the PSC, ERC and also the CUP advocate promoting the modernization of irrigation to improve water management. The Socialists and the Juntaires claim to present a plan within six months, while the Republicans and also the Cupaires are betting on adding a line of aid. Together, they also demand that the Government pay the outstanding aid due to the restrictions and lack of water. ERC also advocates “reviewing and singularizing” the restrictions on farming. Vox calls for an aid plan and a strategy to prevent the entry of products from third countries.
Daily water consumption
None of the groups proposes to tighten the restrictions in the domestic sphere. The CUP proposes to subsidize the water consumption rate while the percentage restrictions last – in the current state of emergency, they propose a 75% bonus. The PSC proposes an awareness campaign and suggests being able to water gardens with non-potable water, while Junts wants to relax the restrictions on sports facilities. Faced with the realization that water is a “scarce commodity”, the Republicans conspire to promote a new water culture that leads to “changing consumption habits”.
Call to preserve biodiversity
Preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change is a demand widely shared by groups. ERC defends subordinating economic policies to the conservation of the environment, a position subscribed to by the communes and the CUP, which calls for preserving the flow of rivers and intensifying environmental inspections. The PSC urges the approval of the biodiversity protection law and Junts asks to set up the Nature Protection Agency.
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