Development & Aid, Environment, Europe, Headlines

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Drink the Water, or Recycle It

Tito Drago

MADRID, Feb 3 2006 (IPS) - Drastic restrictions and recycling plans for water that is not for human consumption will begin to be implemented in the Spanish capital, as the country faces another year of drought.

Concern over the water shortages experienced in the country since last year led to a political agreement to adopt urgent measures in the capital. The conservative Popular Party, which governs Madrid, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, in power in the national government, and the United Left coalition overcame their normally conflictive relations in this unusual joint action.

The parties approved a plan that will begin to go into effect in April. The aim is that by 2012, all water used in the city shall be recycled, except for drinking water. The announcement was made on Thursday, World Wetlands Day.

Madrid city councillor for the Environment, Paz González, pointed out that a series of restrictions in force since last July have already saved 2,200 million litres of water.

But environmentalists are not convinced about the accuracy of this figure, nor about the fulfilment of the plan.

Santiago Martín Barajas, who is responsible for water-related issues at Ecologists in Action, a non-governmental organisation, argued that the authorities should have taken measures before the start of the northern hemisphere summer in 2005, when it was clear that Spain was already suffering from drought. “But they waited until July,” when temperatures were at their peak, he said.

Martín Barajas said the agreed measures would fall short, and called for additional actions as well, such as an awareness-raising campaign to limit consumption and repairs to curb losses from leaks in water supply pipes, “which are known to be enormous,” causing wastage of up to 50 percent in some cases.

He also emphasised the importance of using recycled water for sprinkling, “whether in public parks or on golf courses, and ensuring that these rules are really obeyed.”

For her part, González, who announced the agreement between the three political parties, maintained that the new regulations are “a pioneering step in Spain.”

>From April, all new buildings must have systems to economise output of water in taps, showers and water tanks, and hotels and offices will have to instal timers on taps.

In addition, new urban infrastructure must use porous paving to allow water to filter through to the ground, completing its natural cycle. Water use in swimming pools and carwash facilities will also be regulated.

In Madrid’s green areas, plants species may not cover more than 80 percent of the surface area. Grass may not cover more than 20 percent of private yards, or 10 percent of large parks.

The municipal government may impose fines of between 750 to 600,000 euros for breaches of the regulations.

The drought has brought Spain’s water reservoirs to their lowest levels in history.

Spain’s rivers receive approximately 106,000 cubic hectometres of water from rain and snow. Without reservoirs or dams, less than 10 percent of this would be usable.

In France, on the other hand, 40 percent of water in rivers is usable, without damming.

Authorities in Spain have therefore built reservoirs capable of storing more than 50,000 cubic hectometres a year, equivalent to 2,800 cubic metres per person, which is greater than the average for the European Union.

But according to Martín Barajas, this stored water is used in a very unequal manner. More than three-quarters of it goes to irrigation, while 14 percent is used in towns and cities, and six percent is used by industry.

There is a high demand of water for irrigation because the most profitable agriculture in Spain is located in the driest areas. Several institutions are promoting more economical watering systems, such as the “drip method.”

In this method, water is conducted in pipes along the furrows or at the foot of the trees or bushes, and allowed to drip out close to the roots. Most of these systems are controlled by computers.

Another problem raised on Thursday is that more than 60 percent of Spanish wetlands disappeared in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, because towns were built on them or they were used for agriculture and livestock.

Wetland ecosystems are the richest in biodiversity, and also the most vulnerable. Four out of ten endangered species depend on wetlands for some stage of their biological cycle.

The water programme coordinator at the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO), Ramón Martí, told IPS that both non-governmental organisations and the central government are working to conserve wetlands, “but local administrations still have a lot to do.”

Since relatively small wetlands are essential to connect large wetland areas, and act as biological corridors, SEO is calling for municipal and small town authorities to get involved in conservation work.

Spain is home to 49 of the 1,579 wetlands declared to be of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on wetlands conservation, Martí pointed out.