Water Pact. Subsidies to guarantee the supply of urban drinking water in the Balearic Islands

The project

The main climatic factors that will affect groundwater reserves in the Balearic Islands are the rise in temperature, the decrease in precipitation and the increase in extreme weather phenomena, such as heat waves and floods, although water scarcity is common on Mediterranean islands, and is also inherent to their climate.

Eighty percent of the water destined for urban consumption in the Balearic Islands is extracted from the aquifers. But population growth and urbanisation, with no consideration of water availability, has meant that 43% of groundwater reserves are now overexploited and/or at risk of being overexploited.

In fact, in the Balearic Islands we have already witnessed the lack of infrastructure in some municipalities to guarantee the supply of urban drinking water; on occasions, there is insufficient infrastructure for extraction and storage to cope with seasonal increases in demand due to the increase in temperature and population.

Thus, this project aims to convey the commitment of the island's administrative bodies to dealing with water scarcity. The budget will be transferred to the island councils, enabling them to open a specific line of subsidies to co-finance initiatives aimed at guaranteeing urban water supply to the population, within their power, and in a context of local cooperation. This way, support will be provided for initiatives aimed at detecting and repairing leaks, sectorising supply networks and improving water purification infrastructure, etc.

This project is part of the Water Pact, a commitment by all the administrative bodies of the Balearic Islands to do everything in their power to improve water management.