The Water Consortium assembly met this Monday to discuss, among other things, the situation experienced by La Graciosa last week as a result of the multiple breakages suffered by the supply pipe between Lanzarote and the eighth island.
Among the proposals, the “possible installation of a desalination plant in La Graciosa” stands out, although they recognize that this idea is still “without an economic and production study” and that it would also require “an agreement with the operator.”
From the management of the Lanzarote Water Consortium they assure that several possibilities are being considered to improve the supply of drinking water in La Graciosa. “Work is beginning to request environmental permits that enable the replacement of the pipeline in the Guatifay-La Graciosa section, surveying the means to acquire it and assessing the probable deadlines in the project,” they point out from the Cabildo.
From the Cabildo they emphasize that the idea of placing a new pipe in the Guatifay-La Graciosa line, which was unilaterally acquired in its day by Canal Gestión Lanzarote without the approval of the Water Consortium - during the past term - “was never feasible because it did not have permits or environmental authorizations”.
The public entity made it clear this Monday in the assembly that a project “that is authorized, and then tendered” must be presented for this initiative. “The solution is not to buy 40,000 euros of pipe that cannot be legally installed”, said Andrés Stinga.
In addition, it was clarified in the assembly that the pipe acquired in its day, with a diameter of 90 millimeters, is “clearly insufficient given the increase in consumption experienced in recent years on the eighth island.”
The assembly agrees to demand that Canal deliver the Supply Emergency Plan
From the Cabildo they point out that the mayors and representatives of the town councils, like the management of the Consortium, agreed to “continue with the line of demands to the operator to deliver to the property in a timely manner the necessary Emergency Plan for Supply, Sanitation and Reuse of the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa”, since they assure that it has been previously requested “in December 2021 and February of this year”. “A plan like this becomes a necessary tool to face situations classified as emergencies,” they point out from the Corporation.
The members of the Assembly also supported the other requirements issued in recent days by the Consortium. That is, those referring to the need to "detail the actions carried out by Canal Gestión Lanzarote, not only on the incidents in the network, but also on its obligations for the correct maintenance of the facilities to guarantee the good condition of the Guatifay-La Graciosa line in the face of periods of strong tides". The limited progress in containing network losses was also discussed, hovering around 50% according to estimated data.
“There has been an understanding about the steps taken by the Water Consortium in recent days to address the restrictions in the supply of La Graciosa, making it clear from the mayoralties and from the Cabildo that the owners of the facilities must have the tools that are already included in the service transfer contract so that we can do our job well,” said the president of the Consortium, Andrés Stinga, at the end of the meeting.
Storage capacity
From the Cabildo they point out that the island of La Graciosa currently has a reserve of drinking water for five days, provided that the tanks of 700 and 2,000 cubic meters are full, which they assure is “a high autonomy compared to other places in Lanzarote.”
“This reserve is made for summer periods of high influx and does not include the home reserves of users. The maximum daily consumption for the island is around 450-500 cubic meters in times of maximum demand, so it is not considered necessary to increase the current storage capacity,” they clarify from the Corporation
“The Water Consortium will continue working on other aspects of the service in Caleta de Sebo, such as carrying out a leak detection campaign, improvements in pumping capacity or in the necessary works to be undertaken to improve the supply in the high areas of the town,” said Councilor Andrés Stinga.
The Cabildo also points out that on the island of La Graciosa there are currently “765 drinking water supply policies”, and that average consumption in summer is at most “between 450 and 500 cubic meters per day”. “The rate of losses in the Graciosa network is similar to that estimated in Lanzarote, that is, between 40 and 50%”, they add from the Corporation.
A consensus work plan
The assembly also brought back to the table "the development of the projects that were planned at the beginning of the year, a work and priority plan that includes major projects such as the recovery of the Tinajo reservoir and the improvement of the supply in Mancha Blanca and Tinajo - for 1.6 million euros -; or phase 1 of the renovation of the general supply network of San Bartolomé - for 1.1 million euros -, among others. Projects that they assure will be tendered "shortly".
"These two projects, as well as others including the expansion of the La Atalaya supply reservoir in Haría, or the improvement of the Montaña Mina-Mozaga regenerated water network, are part of those planned for this year by the members of the Water Consortium assembly, the mayors and, of course, the managers of the Cabildo,” Stinga pointed out.
“And that is our planning. It was not until the month of May when the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, registered a request in which he referred to the water supply for La Graciosa”, explains Councilor Andrés Stinga when analyzing the projects planned then in the short term.
“However, even though the mayor of Teguise permanently delegated to another local representative his capacity to attend the assemblies and councils of the entity, and even though he recently decided to use demagoguery to supposedly defend the interests of the Graciosa people, the truth is that we continue working," adds the councilor.
"It is in the assembly where the projects to be executed by all its members are seriously considered,” notes the councilor and president, referring to the integral nature of the entity and its infrastructures, where he assures that La Graciosa "is an important part of the network, with peculiar characteristics, but we will always work considering Lanzarote and the eighth island as a joint and connected network.”
Stinga also lamented that there are areas such as Tinguatón, Los Roferos or Mancha Blanca that currently have "water two days a week," and that other places in San Bartolomé "have daily cuts by areas." "The projects to fix this are already ready for processing through FDCAN funds and were agreed upon at the beginning of the year," explains the councilor.
