The Alianza por el Agua warned on 18 August that the aquifers on the Balearic Islands were in a critical state and called for immediate limits on urban growth. The organisation cites current figures from the Conselleria del Mar y del Ciclo del Agua, according to which groundwater reserves stood at 39 per cent in July. According to the coalition’s calculations, around 22 billion litres more had been extracted from the aquifers during a recent period than permitted under water regulations. The main sources of demand were public drinking water supply and decentralised consumption in buildings on land outside urban areas, which often had no alternative sources.
Specifically, Alianza por el Agua is calling for the withdrawal of those provisions of the so-called ley ómnibusthat allow municipalities to advance development plans without first obtaining a report on water supply. New extraction permits should be capped and tied to demonstrably available resources. The organisation is also calling for accelerated leak management in distribution networks, an expansion of seawater desalination and the systematic reuse of treated wastewaterto ease pressure on aquifers. In the coalition’s view, the core of the problem is the combination of sustained growth in demand and the failure to secure sufficient capacity; without an assessment of water-related follow-on costs in planning law, further perverse incentives are likely.
“The depletion of underground reserves is not a snapshot of this summer, but the result of years of overuse, exacerbated by unchecked urban growth,” said Rafael Tur, spokesperson for Alianza por el Agua. In this context, the ley ómnibus acts as an accelerant because it weakens the planning assessment of the water situation. The monitoring figures published by the Conselleria del Mar y del Ciclo del Agua provided the immediate trigger for the environmental association’s renewed warning.
Decisions on possible policy changes now rest with the regional government and the municipalities. The coalition is urging that new construction be firmly tied to secured water capacity and that measures with an immediate impact be prioritised in the short term. Under its proposal, better network management, additional seawater desalination and reuse of treated wastewater would together reduce reliance on aquifers. Whether, and to what extent, these proposals are adopted remains to be seen; the published reserve figures have nevertheless once again put the debate over growth limits and resource protection in the Balearic Islands on the agenda.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).