Barcelona Drought: water pipeline to Barcelona

The worst Barcelona drought in 50 years continues - and no relief in sight from the cloudless Catalonia skies - the Spanish and Catalonia governments agreed to build a 60km pipeline from the Tarragona region to the Catalonia Capital of Barcelona to supply the city with water.

Oddly, at least to me, the water taken from the Tarragona region is water from the Ebro River which apparently goes to waste due to inefficient irrigation systems. Wasted water is of no use to anyone - except for the natural water cycle - but emergency use can be put to the 50 cubic hectometres of water they expect to pump.

Plans to divert water from the Ebro River to Barcelona, which seem like a natural albeit temporary solution, have brought protests from the Murcia and Valencia regions. A new desalinization/desalination plant will to go into operation in a year's time, giving much relief to Barcelona and the Catalonia region. The Catalonia government also plans to ship water by freighter from France and other parts of Spain.

Desalination seems to be the best long-term solution of them all - but it might be wiser if it took water not from the Mediterranean but from the Atlantic ocean if the proper permits can be acquired and the west-to-east Spanish water pipeline can be built. They do it for oil so why can't it be done for water?

The answer to the above is probably simple: MONEY. OIL is much more valuable than water. Humans NEED water to survive. We've already proven that we can live without oil although it'd be difficult.

Catalonia water reserves are at about 20% of lower in most of the reservoirs and the cost of public water usage as risen, causing restaurant and bar owners to charge for tap water or only serve bottled water.

If the cost of water goes up we can assume the cost of Catalonia-brewed beer, Catalonia produced soft drinks, and even Catalonia Cava will rise too as their principal ingredient is, you got it, H2O.

Barcelona Drought - Water Delivery

Barcelona's drought continues to worsen and drastic steps must be taken.

The first consideration is to ship water to Barcelona - by ship - from the French from the Rhone River in Marseille, France. Other considerations include receiving shipments of water from the Tarragona or even, more drastically, a desalinization of Mediterranean waters from Murcia.

10 years have passed since the Barcelona region has experienced such low levels of rain. But Barcelona isn't the only city or region which has had so little rain. Most of Spain has had the same problem in 2007.

The Catalan government continues to ask its residents to conserve water. If drought conditions continue when the summertime dry season arrives, the region will be in a desperate state.

In 2009, Catalunya hopes to start its own desalinization program for its citizens use. The desalinization plant would be located between Barcelona and Tarragona. What would this do to the water levels in the Mediterranean? Aren't special permissions required from the European Union or the neighboring countries?

So when in Barcelona, don't expect to be offered a glass of tap water in area restaurants. Besides, it's not the custom in Spain. You have to request water. And be sure to specify TAP water ("agua de grifo") - if that's what you want - or your waiter will bring you bottled water. Or just avoid the whole issue and order wine!!

Be sure to read the article entitled, "Drought and Desertification of Spain".