The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has signed a decree stating that the City Council may make arrangements for different emergency investments to expand and improve the groundwater network.

This work, which was already envisaged as part of the Pla Endreça, may be accelerated with this decree and will allow the volume of groundwater available to rise 20%.

In fact, the decree is possible due to the drought emergency declaration which the Generalitat de Catalunya issued this week. It is also possible because the City Hall already had a technical plan on alternative resources that has been seeking for years to substitute drinking water with other water resources when the use of drinking water is not strictly necessary.

The construction, which can now be accelerated, includes seven different actions which total an investment of 14.4 million euros. This will lead to a 0.2 hm³ increase in the groundwater available in the city, an important amount if we bear in mind that Barcelona currently uses 1.1 hm³ of this water per year to water plants and clean the streets.

Without the emergency declaration, these investments would have been made throughout this term of office, but now they are being moved up 10 months.

The different projects are expected to start progressively between next March and September depending on their technical requirements, and the new systems are slated to begin operating in 2025.

The projects are divided into seven different sectors:

Montjuïc system. Seven million euros will be invested here, which will allow consumption to increase 50,000 m³ per year. This is the largest action, which will entail the construction of a new reservoir near the Jardins de Joan Brossa, a pipe that will connect this reservoir with the Poble Sec system and a second distribution pipe that will link Montjuïc castle with the area near the Palau Nacional.

Eixample system. This investment totals 3.5 million euros, which will be used to build a new reservoir near Parc de Joan Miró and connect Parc de les Glòries with Consell de Cent. This will lead to annual gains of 20,000 m³.

Can Batlló system. The in this system actions entail building a new pipe-based distribution system running from the future Can Batlló reservoir, which is already under construction, to the lower areas near the Montjuïc system. This project entails an investment of 1.5 million euros and will enable the water supply for watering plants and fountains near Zona Frana to increase by around 10,000 m³ per year.

Diagonal and Consell de Cent supply. With an investment of 500,000 euros, the City Council will adapt the existing reservoirs in Sant Joan and La Canòpia (Parc de les Glòries) so that plants can be watered with groundwater in the development on Carrer Consell de Cent by mobilising 55,000 m³.

Alfons el Magnànim system Also with an investment of 500,000 euros, this project will improve the functioning of the Taulat groundwater system, while enlarging and improving the distribution pipe that feeds the existing reservoir in the area and building a new well that will add another 50,000 m³ to the network.

Palau Reial system. A new distribution pipe will be built to cross Diagonal near the Palau Reial without affecting traffic, in order to supply the mountain side of the system, which is currently disconnected. The investment will total around 300,000 euros and will increase the supply by around 15,000 m³ per year.

Continuous chlorination of the existing systems. In addition to the aforementioned actions, another 1.1 million euros will be invested in ensuring the quality of the water supplied at all times.

Survival watering with groundwater.

As a result of the drought emergency declaration issued by the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council has also activated its own protocol, which limits watering to the survival of the trees and emblematic spaces and stipulates that vegetation may not be watered with drinking water.

In fact, the municipal services have already lowered the use of drinking water by 60% compared to the normal situation.

In the current scenario, consumption is limited to 200 litres per resident per day in all the municipalities affected by the drought, including Barcelona, an amount that encompasses all uses, including household, industrial and commercial.

However, the city of Barcelona has situated its consumption in 2023 at 172 litres per resident per day. For this reason, right now no changes to citizen consumption associated with the drinking water supply are expected.