An ambiguous discourse from the Catalan government on the drought. The climate action minister, David Mascort, had stated that it would be possible to come out of the drought emergency phase if the predictions of rainfall "for this week and next" are correct. In an interview with El Periódico published this Tuesday, he linked the exit from the emergency phase for the all-important Ter-Llobregat system with immediate weather forecasts for rain, even daring to suggest a specific figure for water reserves in Catalonia's reservoirs that would make it possible to leave behind this maximum level of the environmental crisis. "If they tell us that it will continue to rain heavily, we could get out of emergency [phase] with the reservoirs at 17%", adding that if there were a major downpour and it reaches 20% the emergency status would be lifted "for sure". He had already stated that if the scenario allows restrictions to be avoided, they will be suspended. "It's always better to have no restrictions."
But his words have been contradicted by the spokesperson for the Catalan Republican Left-led government, Patrícia Plaja. She herself had already said last week that if the change in water reserves in Catalan reservoirs took place over a matter of "days or weeks", the modification would not occur. And so she stated again, this Tuesday during the post-cabinet meeting press conference in the Palau de la Generalitat, at which the spokesperson affirmed that it would not be reasonable to lift the restrictions "for a very short period of time" and then declare the emergency again. "It doesn't make sense to leave today and re-enter in a fortnight," she argued.
While Mascort had opened the door to coming out of the emergency soon, with the reservoirs exceeding 17% of their reserves, Patrícia Plaja ruled out setting a specific figure. "I can't say when we can come out of the emergency phase," she said. "Many factors must be taken into account, which must be studied according to the context and you can't predict when it will rain enough," she explained. And she also seemed to throw a barb at Mascort for his apparent optimism, remarking that "what the public appreciate most are clear and non-contradictory messages".
Reservoirs exceed 16%
The reservoirs in the Ter-Llobregat system - which is the territorial area that supplies water to 6 million people living in Barcelona, its metropolitan area and Girona - exceeded 16% of capacity this Monday, according to the daily report prepared by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA). Currently, in addition, these reservoirs are about to exceed the 100 hm³ volume that marks the lower limit of the emergency phase, but the restrictions would not be lifted automatically. The forecast for the next few days is for rain to continue across Catalonia, which suggests that reserves will remain on the rise.