“We must turn this drought into an opportunity,” proclaimed Manuel Hernández, the director of the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua, (Catalan Water Agency), in an interview with Catalunya Radio in February 2008. The result was a decision to invest deeply in desalination technology, the process of taking salt out of seawater. The PlanAgua, proposed by the national government and signed by local entities, aims to create 20 such desalination plants along the coast before 2012. The cost is estimated at €178 million, with 75 percent of that money coming from the EU. The goal is to prevent municipal ‘water wars’, while allowing Catalunya to become less reliant on rain, well and river water.
At the moment, there are three desalination plants in construction or functioning along the shores of the Llobregat River, Barcelona’s main source of drinking water. The most visible is being built behind El Prat airport on the beach, set right in the middle of a Natural Park and bird sanctuary. This plant was initially scheduled to be up and running by now, but the opening date has been delayed until August. The other two are upstream, in Sant Joan Despí and Abrera. Theoretically, these plants should be treating fresh water, but due to river mismanagement and mining waste further upstream, they are filtering saltwater, or at least ‘industrial’ water. The expansion of the Abrera plant means it is now the largest in the world. When finished, these projects will produce 20 percent of Barcelona’s fresh water.
From the environmental point of view, the side effects of desalination seem to make it the best option for dealing with water shortage. “From the studies we have read, yes, there will be some changes, we have no idea how it will affect the birds and the marine life in the long term,” commented Jordi Fernández, a biologist working at the Xarxa de Parcs Naturals. “In the short term, I don’t see any serious problems. It is much better than draining a river or swamp so people can fill their swimming pools.”
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