Menorca water supply: firms demand cash and deadlines

Menorca’s water plan needs money and deadlines, not just promises, a business group says: PIME Menorca wants action to secure the island’s water supply all year. At a meeting on Monday, 28 September, it put its demands to Juan Manuel Lafuente, the Balearic government’s minister for the sea and water cycle, and Joan Calafat, its director general for water resources. The group says the island should not wait until the situation becomes critical before tackling its water needs.

Portable desalination and leaky pipes

PIME wants portable desalination plants to add water while longer-term solutions are developed. It also wants the desalination plant at Ciutadella, Menorca, fully connected to the general network and running at full capacity.

The group is calling for less water to be lost through municipal pipes, year-round work to help underground water reserves recover, new sources of supply and more reuse of treated water. It wants a defined budget for the work and for supply projects to be treated as strategic investments, so they can move through planning and construction faster.

Government points to Ciutadella link

Lafuente says the government is working to make better use of available water, draw on more sources and gradually ease pressure on underground reserves. His department points to progress on a link between the Ciutadella desalination plant and the Es Caragolí reservoir, which it says will improve the distribution of desalinated water.

The government says it is also working on pipe losses, treated-water reuse and new supply sources. PIME says it is willing to work with the authorities, but wants that work to produce results it can track.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com