Government announces end to water restrictions for six million in Catalonia

After four years and eight months of what has been "the largest drought in the last 200 years," the Catalan government has announced the end of water usage restrictions in municipalities supplied by the Ter-Llobregat system. 

A majority of people in Catalonia – around six million – will be affected by the headline announcement from the Minister for Territory, Housing, and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque. 

In a press conference on Saturday at the Sau reservoir – a symbol of the drought in Catalonia – Paneque said that the Ter-Llobregat area will move to pre-alert status after reservoirs surpassed 64% of their capacity. 

The Baix Ter system will return to normal status, and the Fluvià-Muga system will be downgraded from exceptional status to alert. 

Despite the improving picture brought about by increased rain in recent months, desalination plants will continue operating at 90% capacity, and investments to combat the drought will be maintained. 

"Today, we can indeed say that we are lifting the water usage restrictions in the reservoirs and in the Ter-Llobregat system," Paneque said. 

The decision will be formally adopted at Tuesday's cabinet meeting and will come into effect in mid-April once published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC). 

Currently, the municipalities dependent on the Ter-Llobregat system have reservoirs with a capacity of 391 hm3, more than double what it was a month ago. 

The change announced will allow the lifting of restrictions on water usage for agricultural irrigation, environmental flows, and urban uses. 

"Since early March – when the reservoirs of the internal river basins were at 31% – and with these accumulated rains, we have actually doubled this reservoir capacity to 64%, reaching levels we haven't seen since December 2021," Paneque said. 

With the decision concerning the Ter-Llobregat, Baix Ter, and the Muga-Fluvià area, nine regions of Catalonia will be in a state of normality, five in pre-alert, and four in alert. In other words, fourteen of the eighteen areas in the area of Catalonia covered by the internal basins will have no restrictions on water usage. 

"No steps backward" 

The director of the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), Josep Lluís Armenter, welcomed the end of drought-related water restrictions and said that current water reserves guarantee there will be "no steps backward" for at least the next "five to six months." 

In an interview with 'El Suplement' on Catalunya Ràdio, Armenter explained that they expect to "collect a little more water" during the remaining months of spring, particularly in May. 

Armenter said that lifting the restrictions in the Ter-Llobregat system is "very welcome news," allowing activities such as refilling swimming pools and restarting the Montjuïc fountains in Barcelona. 

However, he urged caution and mentioned that desalination plants would continue to operate at nearly full capacity.  

"We want to be cautious. We have reserves at 64% in the internal basins, and aquifers are recovering, but we are still not in a fully normal situation," he said.