[imagesource:physics.org]

Below-average rainfall since 2020 has Spain’s Catalonia region bracing for severe water restrictions as dams and reservoirs run dry.

Stricter limits on water use, swimming pools and farming have now been implemented but many fear it’s not enough to avoid Barcelona experiencing their own ‘Day Zero’.

Cape Townians are familiar with the panic that ensues when a large city is on the precipice of running out of water, having gone through its drought nightmare a few years ago. We managed to pull together somewhat, and a few wet winters saved us.

The northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia has however recorded a drop in rainfall for 40 consecutive months now, with authorities banning the watering of lawns, filling private swimming pools and washing cars. Water pressure has also been lowered in some towns in the Barcelona area. The move will affect six million people in 200 villages, towns and cities across the region.

With summer fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, and the record-breaking heat that plagued most of Europe last year, the local authorities are now considering bringing in water by boat, but the cost and logistics of this makes it a very, very last resort.

Europe saw its hottest summer on record in 2022 and the worst drought in 500 years, with an estimated 13% of Europe experiencing drought conditions at the moment.

December 2023 was the warmest December on record globally, ending a year in which the seven months from June to December all broke temperature records, making 2023 the warmest year since records began. The average surface air temperature last month was 13.51°C, 0.85°C above the 1991-2020 average for December and 0.31°C above the temperature of the previous warmest Decembers, in 2015 and 2019.

While Helen Zille showed us how to bathe in an emmer with our 50 litres-a-day allocation, Spaniards are still able to enjoy 200 litres a day under the emergency status.

The scientists at the World Weather Attribution Group claim that “climate change is making droughts more severe and more likely in the Mediterranean”. Science does however acknowledge that ‘the link between drought and climate change is complex’, so to know whether this situation will only get worse is a waiting game.

“Droughts are natural in the Mediterranean climate pattern. What is very dramatic are the projections of climate change. What we see is an increase in the intensity and frequency of drought.”

Desalination and water regeneration systems account for 55% of Catalonia’s water, but Spain has allocated millions of euros more to increase these expensive ‘hail-mary’ options.

We know what it’s like to face a future without water, so we hope that Europe gets some better rain this summer..

[source:sky]