The Councilor for Climate Action, David Mascort, has put an end to speculation about the climate emergency in Catalonia.
In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Mascort stated that the Generalitat does not plan to lift the emergency until the reservoirs reach 30% of their capacity, the same level as there was a year ago.
Currently, the swamps are below 17% and Mascort believes that it makes no sense to lift the emergency at this time if there has not been enough rain. The councilor has highlighted the importance of the current restrictions to extend water reserves and prevent the reservoirs from being emptied quickly.
The restrictions will allow the water reserves to be extended
According to the Drought Plan, the restrictions must be maintained until there is a substantial improvement in the reservoirs. Maskort has stressed that a round of rains like those of last spring is needed to achieve this improvement and avoid entering phase 2 of the emergency during the summer.
The councilor has stated that if the rains continue and the reservoirs increase, the entry into the emergency phase can be extended and phase 2 can be avoided. However, he has made it clear that it is necessary to ensure that the reservoirs are not emptied quickly to make this decision.
The spring rains give some margin
Maskort has emphasized that the rains of the last few days have made it possible to collect a considerable amount of water, which will allow the entry into the emergency phase to be extended for a few more weeks. If the rains continue, this phase can be extended even further. However, to get out of the emergency completely, it will be necessary for the rains to be more abundant.
Last year, on these dates, the reservoirs of the internal basins were at 28%, just above the 25% threshold that marks the entry into the phase of exceptionality, the step prior to the emergency.
