Finally, for the first time, the water table. This body should have been created during the previous legislature, but finally its constitution has arrived in full drought. “Today has only been a first meeting”, explain representatives of some of the 33 entities who have participated. The Government points in the same vein: sources from the Department of Climate Action point out that this morning’s meeting at the Palau de Pedralbes has been a touchdown.
Each platform has had two to five minutes to present their proposals and their point of view. Today I was not expected to have time to discuss in depth each question. However, in the ‘conselleria’ there is satisfaction because everyone has shown open to work together and listen to others.
In the coming months the commissions will meet and within a year the foundations will be laid for a National Water Pact
Where do you want to go with the creation of the Water Table? The ultimate goal is close a National Water Pact for Catalonia. This agreement, if it is reached, could end up assuming legal changes For example, in the phases of drought plan or in the form of manage water in Catalonia. But the pact, for the moment, is still far away. For now, the goal is set the foundations.
Example of the Ter
The next steps will be committee meetings smaller: there will be sectoral commissionsto analyze specific topics, and territorial commissions, distributed by geographical areas. During the coming months, these meetings should collect data and analyze the situation in order to have a exact x-ray of water cycle in Catalonia.
From here, it will be possible to know what should be changed. The Government takes the example of the Ter table in order to replicate the same work methodology which culminated in agreements still in force. Pere Aragonès has made a call for co-responsibility: “We need a consensus to rebuild the bases and uses of water resources in Catalonia”.
“We need a consensus to rebuild the bases and uses of water resources in Catalonia”
Pere Aragones
Various issues were addressed during the meeting: leakage reduction, environmental flows either agricultural uses. Each sector has contributed from its point of view. For example, the agrarian unions do not defend the same interests as the associations in defense of the environment and biodiversity or supplier companies.
prior disagreement
Ecologists in Action, Platform in Defense of l’Ebre (PDE), Grup d’Estudi i Protecció dels Ecosistemes Catalans (GEPEC) or Ecologists of Catalonia are some of the social and environmental platforms that have participated in the table. They recognize that the meeting is a good news. However, they warn of a “starting discrepancy” that they maintain with the Administration.
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“We miss one prioritization of uses. We consider that the first thing that has to be ensured is the environmental flow of the rivers,” warns Dante Maschio, spokesperson for Aigua és vida. “Several working groups have been set up but before deciding how to restrict uses, it is necessary to ensure the flow of rivers and the natural cycle of water,” he adds.
All of these groups claim that the access to water is a human right that must be guaranteed. They also question the agricultural and livestock model of the coming years: “Is it sustainable that we continue to consume water for agricultural products that we export or that feed pigs that we export?”.