Due to high temperatures and lack of rain, drought is becoming a problem; water reservoirs for consumption were at 37.9% at the end of July, their lowest level in a decade. This situation is especially affecting Galicia, Catalonia and Andalusia. Among the measures put in place include closing beach showers, prohibiting watering, filling swimming pools and washing cars, and even power cuts at night.
In Galicia, the municipalities of Poio, Sanxenxo, Marín, Bueu and Pontecaldelas, in Pontevedra are preparing for the situation to worsen, and even for a state of alert that would include water supply cuts. The six towns have already taken measures such as cutting off water from beach showers, prohibiting refilling swimming pools, washing cars, washing streets, and are working to find and stop any possible leaks.
In some municipalities of Ourense, notices have been published informing that non-essential uses are prohibited, warning of being fined in case of Special Data non-compliance. In the municipalities of Baltar and Boborás, in addition to prohibiting filling swimming pools and washing cars, they have also prohibited the use of water to water gardens, orchards and farms. In Baltar they are studying adding other measures such as checking the springs or installing meters in towns that do not have them.
In Catalonia, the Generalitat has limited water consumption in 150 municipalities to 200 liters per person per day. The reservoirs are at 43% capacity, 40 points below recent years. In the city of Solsona, the situation has forced water to be supplied from cisterns to one of the municipal network tanks for a week.
The situation is even worse in Andalusia, where reservoirs are below the capacity necessary to supply the population in the coming months. In Malaga, the La Viñuela reservoir is at 12.7% of its capacity, while in the Antequera region they have had to supply water in tanker trucks. This shortage has forced some farmers to sacrifice part of their avocado plantations, and table olive production is also in danger.
In Extremadura the Tentudía reservoir is at 16.6% of its capacity, half that of last year. In addition to the limitations on not watering, not filling pools and not washing cars, in Bodonal de la Sierra rural homes, although not those in the urban area, have water restrictions for some hours.
Similar savings measures are also applied in Castilla y León, Navarra, the Basque Country and Castilla-La Mancha. While in the Canary Islands, despite suffering several years of drought in a row, they do not suffer from shortages due to the contribution of the desalination plants.