The Governing Council approved this Monday a budget modification of two million euros destined to increase water production in Lanzarote. The file, promoted by the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, will allow the Island Water Council of the island to increase the capacity of the Janubio and Díaz Rijo desalination plants by more than 10%. The head of this department, Manuel Miranda, explained that "this extraordinary financing is yet another sign of the regional Executive's commitment to the island's Government to mitigate the supply problems it has suffered for years."
The subsidized project will involve the acquisition of 3,200 units of reverse osmosis membranes to increase the efficiency of both facilities, and its execution period will be 5 months, once the contracting is formalized by the Island Council.
Manuel Miranda recalled that when the current Government of the Canary Islands took office in the summer of 2023, Lanzarote had a deficit in both water supply capacity and planning. "In September 2023, two portable desalination plants were transferred to the island and, in addition, we assumed the drafting and processing of the third cycle of the hydrological plan, which at that time had accumulated two years of delay," he explained. A year later, in August 2024, the Government approved this document, which included the total needs of the island in terms of water, 202 measures amounting to 298 million euros.
Manuel Miranda has positively valued the declaration of water emergency in Lanzarote formalized these days by its island water council, which "will allow its Cabildo to process the necessary investments in this area in a more agile and effective manner."
The counselor recalled that, together with the budget modification approved this Monday, the regional Executive is currently managing "more than 15 million euros in four key projects for the future of the water cycle on the island." Manuel Miranda explained that there are already 2.6 million euros between 2024 and 2025 that will be allocated to the "promotion of sanitation and supply of La Graciosa, blocked during the last four years and that already have the procedures for drafting their projects and starting the works next year."
In addition, he explained that the work on line 1 of supply, which connects the center and north of the island, will be completed next summer, after overcoming various problems of energy facilities and cleaning of the pipes that have forced to draft a modification. A total of 620,000 euros will be allocated to this project in 2025, which will mainly benefit the primary sector in the north of Lanzarote.
The Government of the Canary Islands is also managing a 10 million euro project that will involve the expansion of the Playa Blanca treatment plant in the municipality of Yaiza in 2026. On August 30, the Executive assumed the management and promotion of this project, which is key to improving the purification and treatment of wastewater in this area of the island.
Works of general interest in Lanzarote
Manuel Miranda recalled that the Government of the Canary Islands has adopted the proposals of the island councils for the declaration of works of general interest, which will be part of the negotiation of a future agreement with the State. In the case of Lanzarote, these are six strategic measures amounting to 69 million euros "to improve the supply to the population, protection against floods, sanitation and purification and supply to the primary sector."
The counselor reiterated that the Canary Islands "cannot face alone the updating of the water cycle, which has suffered years of paralysis, both in terms of planning and investment by the State." Manuel Miranda recalled that the Government of Spain is "obliged by the Statute of Autonomy and the regional and state water laws to assume these works of general interest and finance them through the General State Budgets."
