Lanzarote hosts this Wednesday a Water Conference that will bring together experts to address the main challenges and realities in water management in the Canary Islands. The event will take place this June 25, at 6:00 p.m., at the Hotel Lancelot, in Arrecife. Thus, it will pay special attention to the local situation and its environmental, social and economic impacts.
The island faces an exponential increase in the demand for drinking water driven by tourism and economic development, which puts pressure on infrastructure and the environment. The island relies heavily on desalination, a key technology but with significant economic and environmental impacts. Water management, currently privatized, is in public debate due to the lack of stability and transparency, opening the possibility of its remunicipalization to guarantee an efficient and sustainable public service.
The Water Conference, organized by Ecologistas en Acción Lanzarote, will begin in Lanzarote as a space for reflection and debate to promote comprehensive solutions that guarantee access to water as a common good and fundamental right, promoting responsible management adapted to current climatic and social challenges.
The day will begin with the presentation by Fernando Espino Rodríguez, member of BIOCON (Biodiversity and Conservation) of the ULPGC and Technician of the Environmental Impact Service of the Government of the Canary Islands, who will speak about the impacts of land-sea discharges of wastewater and brines, explaining the environmental impacts associated with these discharges, the current situation in the Canary Islands and in particular in Lanzarote, as well as the analysis of the management of the different discharges.
Next, Dante Maschio, spokesperson for Aigua és Vida de Catalunya and member of Engineering without Borders, will address water demand management and public management and water and sanitation as a right. He will analyze water consumption by sectors —municipal, tourism, industrial, agriculture and livestock—, savings plans and use of gray and rainwater, drought and climate risk plans, as well as the economic, social, environmental and energy impact of desalination, including the price and consumption by Canal Gestión Lanzarote and its evolution.
Finally, Saúl García, environmental journalist in Lanzarote, will present the presentation entitled Water is not a Business: at what point did we lose control, where he will trace water management in Lanzarote from the public management of Inalsa to its liquidation and privatization. He will analyze the profile of Canal Gestión, the Hydrological Plan and private desalination plants, the conditions of the contract and the parallel judicial processes, such as the Montaña Roja case and the increase in rates, to conclude with the current situation of the integral water cycle on the island.
