If May was the month that marked the beginning of the end of the great drought of 2008 in Catalonia, the month of June 2023 was the shock that broke the trend of the longest rainy spell of the century. They believe the government is saving the most catastrophic scenario for this summer, which they were warned about in March, when reserves were at 25% and a state of emergency was declared, the pre-emergency phase during which domestic water cuts will be made. The intense and repeated rains that fell in the headwaters of the rivers this June have increased the water reserves of the Ter Llobregat system by 6% at a time when they tend to decrease. This eliminates the emergency scenario that the government wanted to announce at the end of the summer, which will now be postponed by at least “weeks or months” depending on consumption and precipitation this summer, government sources warn.
The government’s worst fears were allayed, they admit from the Catalan Water Authority (ACA), the Generalitat’s highest water management body, when it was least expected: in June, a generally dry month that saw accumulated reserves in February , March and April (that extremely dry year) they start to fall. So the logic suggested that the extreme lack of rain would continue and a very compromised situation would be reached already by the beginning of summer. But it was not like that.
The Sau reservoir, on March 15th and June 30th. Gianluca Battista / Albert Garcia
ACA sources insist that the rains that fell in June, which have accumulated up to 100 liters per square meter in a few hours, do not eliminate the worst drought Catalonia has experienced since records (1905), but without Doubts You move away from the most pessimistic scenarios. They therefore assume that a “relatively normal” summer is guaranteed, although they warn that this is also dependent on water consumption not skyrocketing. Overall, the seasonal forecasts from the Catalan weather service (Meteocat) predict a quarter with above-average precipitation for July, August and September.
Rosa Pruna, rancher and president of the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (Asaja), admits recent rains have been “good” for fruit trees, which have been the biggest losers from the drought. “On the other hand, we have never seen rains like this in a month of June and this water is affecting the grain harvest. Because it didn’t rain, the wheat grew very little and now that it has to be collected, it gets wet and can be covered with fungus,” Pruna laments. The farmer claims that rainfall is uneven across Catalonia and that there are areas “like the Penedès” where the lack of water is affecting the vineyards.
Pere Roqué is a farmer and president of Asaja in Lleida: “We are very hopeful given the recent rains. In April it was decided to close the canals for irrigation and since then the fruit trees have only been watered twice. Next week we have the third. If the rising water in the swamp allows us to irrigate five or six more, we will not only have saved the trees but also part of the crops. We’re going to lose a lot less money than we thought.” Hours after those words were announced, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation this Thursday announced an increase in the amount of water used for irrigation by 50 cubic hectometres for the Urgell Canal and an additional 15 cubic hectometres for utilities at.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
Vegetation in the Sau reservoir, this Friday: an image in green that has not been seen in this reservoir in Catalonia for weeks.Albert Garcia
At the beginning of May, the farmers who feed from the Urgell Canal declared the crop lost and assured that 164 million euros would be lost. In addition, if the fruit trees were not supplied with water and the trees died, the losses from the Urgell Canal trees alone amounted to 764 million. The President of the Irrigation Community of the Canals d’Urgell, Amadeu Ros, now assures that the forecasts will not come true. “The rain saved the trees. “It’s possible that we can save a good part of the harvest,” he says.
If the weather forecasts for the next quarter are met and there is no delay in consumption, the end of summer could be reached with backwater levels equal to or greater than now (30%). A huge respite considering government forecasts in March were that it could be below 17%, with a state of emergency being declared and the water supply cut off.
It is expected that next Tuesday, after the weekly government meeting, government spokeswoman Patricia Plaja and ACA director Samuel Reyes will report on the data update. However, no change is expected in the drought declaration phase, although reserves are currently 5% above the 25% limit, marking the alert phase; Nor does it mean that consumption restrictions will be relaxed (e.g. lifting the total ban on watering gardens or reducing the watering limit from 40% to 25%). This decision will only be made when the volumes have clearly stabilized, they explain from the Court of Auditors. And they add that the water shortage in the community can only be considered overcome once 60% of reserves are reached, a scenario that is still a long way off. Nor is it expected that the El Prat desalination plant, which has been in full operation for a year, will reduce its production rate.
In addition, the last rains in June were much more effective than those that fell in May. The surroundings of reservoirs and rivers are green again with the wet terrain. This is thanks to the fact that the May rains were able to wet the thirsty land and the water falling from the sky is now reaching the rivers more easily, which have significantly increased their flow rate, sending more water to the main reservoirs. The flow of the Ter, which feeds the Sau and Susqueda reservoirs (the two with the largest capacity), has at times increased to 150 cubic meters per second during some rainy episodes. The numbers, which have been falling for weeks regardless of whether it rains or not, have tripled in some areas compared to early May. This means that as the water falls, the flow rate will increase much more easily. The flow of the Llobregat, which supplies the Baells reservoir, has also increased.
The recovery of the last few weeks is clearly visible in the Sau reservoir. The water level of the reservoir, which has been diverted to neighboring Susqueda to prevent it from rotting, has dropped to 31.4% from 6% in early May. It already exceeds even Susqueda’s share (29.5%). The ruins of the city, buried decades ago after the construction of the dam, are now covered with water and only the Romanesque church remains uncovered.
Compared to the peninsular hydrographic basins, the Catalan basin was one of the ones that benefited the most from the June storms. In May, the inland basin hydrographic system was the second largest with the least amount of backwater, just behind the Guadalquivir (23.6% today). The Catalan is now fourth (also ahead of Guadiana and Guadalete-Barbate). Although it is still well below the Spanish average (47%).
You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter