The Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) publishes this Monday the announcement of the Island Water Council of Lanzarote by which the initial approval of the declaration of a water emergency situation on the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa is submitted to public information, and the measures approved to reverse this situation.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has highlighted the importance of "an emergency declaration that is necessary and has been widely agreed upon with all social sectors."
The initial declaration of a water emergency, for a period of 6 months, and in accordance with the provisions of articles 107 and following of Law 12/1990, of July 26, on Waters of the Canary Islands, and in article 198 of the Regulation of Public Water Domain of the Canary Islands, RDPH, of the Canary Islands, will be on public display for a period of five business days, starting this Tuesday, December 17, so that any natural or legal person can formulate the allegations they deem appropriate.
Once the public information process has concluded and the response to the allegations received has been made, the General Board of the Island Water Council of Lanzarote will be convened again so that, if appropriate, the agreement for the final approval of the water emergency and its publication in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands is adopted.
"We hope that in January 2025 the water emergency will already be in force and we will implement the measures that were approved by the Water Consortium of Lanzarote and ratified by the Island Council on November 29 with 23 votes in favor, 3 against and two abstentions," according to the Councilor of Water of the Cabildo, Domingo Cejas.
The declaration of a water emergency was proposed by the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, in the Island Debate held last October and approved as a resolution by the majority of the plenary of the Island Corporation.
A declaration for action
The declaration of the water emergency was endorsed by a reasoned proposal by the Water Consortium of Lanzarote, with representation from the Cabildo and the seven City Councils, which contemplates a series of measures to increase water production, reduce network losses and control consumption.
The aim is to increase production through the provisional incorporation of portable desalination plants, the rehabilitation of two frames in the plants of the Díaz Rijo Desalination Plant, which will increase production by 16,000 m3/day, the expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plants and ensure the supply of agricultural water to the primary sector.
Likewise, a sectorization and leak control project will be implemented, which the city councils already have to issue urban planning compatibility reports, and a framework contract will be established for the execution of repairs in networks through the urgent route, in addition to adopting transversal initiatives to save water in public facilities and services such as beaches and street cleaning, as well as promoting and recovering the culture of water through cisterns and alcogidas.
The allegations must be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Island Water Council of Lanzarote on the web.
The process for the sanitation works of La Graciosa begins
On the other hand, the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands also publishes this Monday, December 16, the decree of the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Waters of the Government of the Canary Islands by which the suspension of the affected determinations of the Island Planning Plan of Lanzarote and the Subsidiary Regulations of Teguise is ordered, in the scope of the rural land of natural protection, for the implementation of the sanitation and purification infrastructures of the island of La Graciosa, while the corresponding substantive transitional planning regulations are approved.
The sanitation work project is currently in the bidding period by the Ministry of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, which has already included in the budgets of the autonomous community for 2025 an initial item of two million euros to face the start of the works.
The decree states that the territorial scope affected by the suspension affects the Llano de La Mareta, where the infrastructures related to the wastewater treatment plant are planned; the connection road between Caleta de Sebo and Llano de La Mareta, where the external impulsion and regenerated water supply pipes are planned to be located, and the area of Rural Land outside the nucleus in contact with the Urban Land, to enable the implementation of pipes, pumping stations, etc., that may be considered necessary.
