The Citizen Water Board of Lanzarote has issued a strong statement in which it harshly criticizes the management of the integral water cycle by the current government group of the Island Council. After twenty-six months, the platform denounces that the availability of water for users remains "terrible" and that the right to access the supply is "violated daily by the constant selective cuts".
The group lashes out against the recent announcement by the president of the Cabildo about the acquisition of high-tech reverse osmosis membranes for 2 million euros, in order to increase the production of desalinated water. The Citizen Water Board describes this measure as a "ceremony of confusion" and a "deception" to the citizens.
According to the statement, the Cabildo "forgot to mention" that more than half of the water production is lost in the network, an alarming 56% according to the supplying company, much higher than the state average of 25.8% according to the INE. This "volume of unbilled water losses" could supply 225,000 inhabitants and entails a "disproportionate energy waste", an "unsustainable environmental impact" and an increase in the carbon footprint due to the increase in electrical energy of fossil origin.
The Citizen Water Board insists that the problem of the cuts is not a production deficit, citing hydraulic balances of the concessionaire that demonstrate an annual increase in the production of desalinated water. They support their position with statements by the Minister of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Miranda, who in March 2024 stated that "it is difficult to defend that there are more desalination plants, when the common reality on the island is that a lot of water is lost, which should be corrected through investment." They also refer to a report by the Canary Islands Price Commission of October 2024, which points to a "growing percentage of unregistered water" and a "constant deterioration of the water infrastructure, a structural problem that urgently needs to be corrected".
For the Citizen Water Board, the solution involves a serious investment in reducing the volume of losses, including "investments in reservoirs, elimination of fraud, maintenance and digitization of the hydraulic network" for real-time control.
Finally, the statement expresses outrage at the transfer of public money, more than two million euros, to a private company whose management has been "disastrous", when the investment in membranes should correspond to the Madrid-based concessionaire of the integral water cycle, which should have an annual replacement plan in its budget.
The Citizen Water Board concludes by demanding "to have guaranteed the right to access the water supply regularly and with criteria of sustainability and equity", a future without cuts and an "efficient public management with citizen oversight", considering that the private management model "has failed".
