The Government of the Canary Islands is studying declaring the works to supply water and sanitation to La Graciosa of regional interest. The Governing Council intends to resolve the continuous supply cuts suffered by the island and tries to put an end to the "serious environmental risk posed by the uncontrolled evacuation of fecal water".
This is the main measure of the roadmap agreed last week between the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Teguise, and which was reported to the Governing Council by the head of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, Manuel Miranda, during the meeting held by the regional Executive this morning in Arrecife.
The sanitation works and construction of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of La Graciosa have been paralyzed since 2018, after the declaration of emergency that protected them was considered inappropriate. The delay in its entry into operation is generating serious environmental damage to the marine ecosystem, caused by the uncontrolled and untreated discharge of fecal water generated on the Island.
According to the agreement reached between the administrations involved, with the consensus of the technicians, the most guaranteeing and effective solution involves the suspension of planning in the area, as provided for in Article 168 of the Land Law for "exceptional actions promoted by the Autonomous Government when there are justified reasons of public, social or economic interest." Only in this way can the current situation of administrative paralysis be unblocked, as the Master Plan for Use and Management of the Chinijo Archipelago Natural Park has been annulled by a ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands of 2016, confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2018.
"The exceptional suspension of planning and the declaration of regional interest of the project are the only two possible measures at this time to put the treatment plant into operation and end the discharge of fecal water," said the Minister of Territorial Policy, Manuel Miranda. The same procedure will be applied to the replacement of the underwater pipeline that carries drinking water to the Island, whose poor condition causes constant breakdowns and supply interruptions.
"Guaranteeing the water supply in La Graciosa, and solving the serious sanitation problem, are priority actions for the Government of the Canary Islands, we have been working on them from the moment we took office, and both the City Council of Teguise and the Cabildo of Lanzarote will have all our support to definitively resolve this unsustainable situation," said Manuel Miranda.
As agreed with the Insular Corporation, both projects will be executed by the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water itself, charged to the extraordinary credit enabled in the budgets of next year through the Additional Provision provided for the water emergency in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Hydrological plan
Manuel Miranda also informed the Governing Council this Monday, held in Arrecife, that the drafting of the third cycle of the Insular Hydrological Plan of Lanzarote, and the second cycle of the Flood Risk Management Plan, will be completed this week, following the subrogation of powers to the Autonomous Government approved on September 18 in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
The counselor highlighted "the effort" made by the General Directorate of Water to expedite these two plans, which will be sent before the end of the year to the Environmental Assessment Commission, and may be definitively approved by the Governing Council in the first months of next year.
