"Some people still do not know we are in the middle of a severe drought"

The general director of the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), Samuel Reyes, participated on Friday 21 April 21 in the closing ceremony of the 13th Healthy and Sustainable Week, which took place on the UAB campus from 17 to 21 April, with different activities related to sustainability and health throughout the week.

Reyes was presented by Vice Rector of Campus and Sustainability Carme Miralles, and by Director of the UAB Sustainability Office Alba Cabañas.

In the conference "The Current Drought Situation: Urgency, Complexity and Resilience", at the UAB Graduate School, he explained how water is managed in Catalonia, provided data and presented some questions for reflection in the face of drought and the emergency situation.

Opposing needs

He warned that "some people still do not know we are in the middle of a severe drought" and pointed out that managing a drought is a complicated challenge because many agents are involved and because there are many needs from different areas, which are opposed, such as agriculture, tourism or biodiversity, among others.

He stressed the importance of saving water at all levels. "In households it is essential to save water; if only each household were to constantly reduce consumption, this would have an impact, since we would not have to use so much water from the twenty or so reservoirs that Catalonia has, which are currently at a minimum". It is necessary to look for formulas to control the levels of consumption, which would help to become more aware of the problem.

He explained that there has been a great improvement in water management compared to a few years ago thanks to data analysis. "Since the beginning of 2020 it has not been raining enough, so from the ACA we have already started to act; the drought has been here for some time now," he said.

He presented the boost being made in reclaimed water, with data since 2005. The highest was last year, when 68.8 cubic kilometers of reclaimed water were produced, most of it for agricultural use. He added that there are plans to build 25 new plants in places such as Valls, Reus and Figueres.

In the final part of his speech he pointed out that "it is necessary to have a big debate, in the Parliament, to discuss what to do in the face of the general drought". The director of the ACA wonders whether it is necessary to make maximum use of technology and all possible economic resources to build facilities that allow to continue to have water (desalination plants, regeneration plants, etc.) or whether it is necessary to rethink the type of growth we want. "In areas like Abu Dhabi they make cities out of nothing, with technology and money they can do it, but is this what we want?", he asked.

After the speech, attendees asked him questions and a very interesting debate was generated on a key issue such as water management and drought, which affects citizens at all levels.