Brussels, 21/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the Spanish government cancelled by decree-law the National Hydrological Plan that provided for water to be carried from the Ebre in the northern regions of Spain to the southern regions and the building of desalination plants in order to make up for the country's water shortage. The Aznar government had struggled to keep the plan going despite protests from environmental associations and the reticence expressed by the EU, which had been called upon to provide some of the funding, but the new Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had expressed doubt about how appropriate it was to continue with the plan. A new project has been put forward as an alternative solution. It provides for the construction or the modernisation on the Mediterranean shore of some fifteen desalination plants stretching from Catalonia to the Almeria region in order to provide 60% of the 1063 cubic hectometres of water required. The cost of the new project is EUR 3.798 billion, representing a saving of EUR 400 million compared to the previous project. According to a spokesman for the Spanish executive, "the government is aware of the fact that the regions of Valence, Alicante and Almeria need water and they will have water thanks to a water policy in our country that is re-directed in order to provide more water, at less cost and in a more environmentally-friendly manner". Spanish Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said it was necessary for Spain to respect the European directives and the alternative proposed is the result of "very indepth" dialogue.
Most of the environmental organisations (Greenpeace, Ecologistas en Acción and WWF/Adena) welcome the fact that the National Hydrological Plan has been stopped, which is tantamout to a "historic victory", but do not support the new solution either as, Ecologistas en Acción stresses, it "consolidates the non-sustainable development model prevailing along the Mediterranean coast". The southern regions, for their part, are disappointed. Francisco Camps, President of the Valence region, says that giving up the project is a "break in the underlying principle of our national life which is solidarity between the different regions of the country".
The National Hydrological Plan, costing EUR 4.2 billion and divided into around 400 individual projects involving the construction of 120 dams in the north and south of the country, spread out over 25 years, had been adopted in July 2001 and has been the subject of controversy ever since. On one side, the northern regions and the environmental associations were opposed to the project because of the foreseeable adverse impact it would have on the environment despite EU law (Habitat Directive and Water Framework Directive). On the other hand, the southern regions, in favour of intensive greenhouse farming (which uses a great deal of water) and the development of mass tourism, were delighted to see a solution to their problems taking shape. The European Commission for its part had mainly shown reticence because of the adverse environmental consequences on the Ebre delta, the impact that canals would have on the landscape and the mechanisms for fixing water prices. The EP had taken a stance against the granting of subsidies for such a project.