WORLD NEWS: DROUGHT EMERGENCY DECLARED FOR BARCELONA
Read Time:1 Minute, 30 Second
Agency Report
After three years without much rain, the northeastern Catalonia region of Spain on Thursday declared a drought emergency for Barcelona and the surrounding area. As a result, there will be stricter water restrictions going forward.
Following a decline in reservoir capacity in the Mediterranean region to less than 16 percent, Pere Aragones, the chairman of Catalonia’s regional administration, made the announcement.
The authorities have set that threshold as the standard for the implementation of a fresh round of water-saving policies that will impact about six million people.
“Catalonia is suffering the worst drought in the last century, we have never faced such a long and intense drought since rainfall records began,” Aragones told a news conference.
The emergency is to reduce the daily water allotment from 210 to 200 litres (55 to 52 gallons) per person for residential and municipal purposes.
It may be reduced to 180 litres and then 160 litres if the drought gets worse.
Starting on Friday, Barcelona and 201 neighbouring towns will be subject to water use restrictions, which forbid using recycled water to wash automobiles or fill private swimming pools.
Only groundwater can be used to irrigate public gardens.
Industry and agriculture will take a bigger hit. The emergency declaration seeks to cut water use by 25% for industry and by 80% for crop irrigation.
A number of heatwaves that occurred in Spain and other parts of Europe last summer made the drought worse by reducing reservoir levels as water use and evaporation rose.
The very warm weather has persisted into 2024, with some areas experiencing January highs of almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit)—temperatures typically only reached in June.
According to experts, human-caused climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0