The General Board of the Island Water Council approved this Friday morning, by majority vote, to initially declare a Water Emergency on the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, for a period of six months, under Article 107 of the Canary Islands Water Law and 198 of the Regulation of the Public Hydraulic Domain of the Canary Islands.
The declaration, which passed at the plenary meeting held in the halls of the Farmer's Monument, had 23 votes in favor, three votes against, those of the mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz, and of Haría, Alfredo Villalba, who also voted against as a representative of the Island Association of Livestock Farms, and the abstentions of the mayor of Yaiza, Oscar Noda, and the representative of Comisiones Obreras, Fermín Feo. No representative of the San Bartolomé City Council nor of the socialist group in the Lanzarote Cabildo attended the General Board meeting.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, "promoter of the initiative approved in the State of the Island debate last October", celebrates the declaration of emergency and points out that "what the socialists call an occurrence has had the support of all the sectors represented in the Council". He adds that "the financing from the Government of the Canary Islands, in which I have been working from minute one and until now from the Regional Parliament, is assured".
The Councilor for Water of the Cabildo, Domingo Cejas, who presided over the General Board as vice president of the Island Water Council, highlighted after the meeting that "today we have taken an important step to provide solutions to the multiple and varied problems we have with the integral water cycle." Cejas thanked the 28 attending councilors, representatives of the regional, island and local administration, public companies, associations of the primary sector, consumer organizations, unions and employers.
With the initial approval of the Water Emergency, the implementation of the measures that were already proposed by the General Assembly of the Water Consortium of Lanzarote and described in the water situation report presented at the General Board by the manager of this entity, Fernando Fernández, with contributions from the manager of the Island Water Council, Erik Martín, who stated in his speech that "we are in a critical, but temporary and reversible situation" is also approved.
The Deputy Minister of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Marcos José Lorenzo, who spoke via videoconference, showed all his support and that of the Government of the Canary Islands for the declaration of a water emergency and highlighted "the magnificent results that this declaration has given on islands such as Fuerteventura or Tenerife".
The measures approved
The measures are aimed at "increasing 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 ensuring the supply of agricultural water to the primary sector".
Actions that, for the manager of the Water Consortium of Lanzarote, Fernando Fernández, "are a priority to implement as soon as possible to achieve, first of all, the increase in production and ensure supply".
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 the promotion and recovery of the culture of water through cisterns and alcogidas".
The declaration approved this Friday proposes that "public administrations process as a matter of urgency" and for reasons of public interest, in the terms of article 33 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, of the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, actions in the field of water, provided that the reduction of deadlines does not lead to the expiration of the procedures.
Similarly, the public administrations competent to grant authorizations, permits, licenses... necessary for the execution of works aimed at improving supply networks, reducing losses, improving and expanding production centers... are urged in the terms of article 71.2 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, of the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, of those files related to the collection and/or production of water, so that it is the holder of the competent administrative unit who gives a motivated order to prioritize its processing.
Deadlines for entry into force
The initial approval agreement will be published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands and in one of the newspapers with the largest circulation on the island, for a minimum period of 5 business days, during which time allegations may be submitted to its content.
Once the allegations have been received, they will be taken into consideration and "a reasoned decision will be made on the appropriateness or not of the measures that could be incorporated or modified, from among the proposals received during said period of public display".
Once the allegations have been resolved, the final agreement declaring the water emergency will be adopted, for a period that may not exceed six months, extendable by prior agreement of the General Board, and the measures aimed at "alleviating the water situation of the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa" will be imposed.
"We hope that in January 2025 the declaration of emergency will be fully active, which, as you know, can be temporarily extended in the event that the shortage situation continues," says Domingo Cejas.
The General Board of the Island Water Council also approved this Friday the entity's budget for 2025, which amounts to 1.7 million euros, and the signing of an agreement with the Lanzarote Tax Network.
