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I fear that Professor Higgins was mistaken. The rain does not fall mainly on the plain. As any meteorologist will tell you, it is a little more complicated than that.
Fair ladies aside, given that the climatic reputation of the British Isles and Spain are almost polar opposites, how come the current water supply situation is reversed as well?
The Idea of a UK water shortage is a real laughing matter here, the picture most Spaniards have of Britain is that it “rains all the time”. Obviously reputations can be misleading but it is true that Spain is officially classified as a semi-arid country and you don’t need me to point out that Britain is not.
There are plenty of lessons that the Brits could learn from Spain, and water conservation is one of them. It is not a completely rosy, picture perfect, situation but some of the fundamental principles are worth the British authorities taking on board. It may mean the ill health, or even death, of some sacred cows, however.
First, consider that Spain is not an island and has Portugal to consider. The majority of Portugal’s water comes from Spain, which collects a good deal more than you might think. In part thanks to the Pyrenees and a few other mountain ranges.
Major rivers flow from Spain into Portugal and so without the need to supply its neighbour Spain would have between 400 and 600million cubic metres of water more each year to play with. The variation is due to an agreement with the Portuguese based on the flow available.
Spain signed an agreement to allow this clearly specified flow of water from the rivers, which originate in Spain, into Portugal in the 1990s. Whilst this particular agreement was reached relatively recently, it was preceded by another simpler one and is by no means unique. This illustrates how unusual the UK situation is.
Franco began a dam building program in the 1940s and there are now 2000 or more in all. These are reasonably full in Catalonia and even elsewhere they have sufficient to avoid a crisis. Dams are an important contribution to Spain’s water management policy.
Returning to Prof Higgins for a moment, the rain very definitely does not fall mainly in the plain and many plains like those of La Mancha and Aragon, have very low rainfalls indeed. Galicia, on the northwest corner, and with an Atlantic coast, has a great deal.
A Galician friend who now lives in Kent was once asked if she missed the Spanish climate, “No”, she said, “England is drier”.
So, if rainfall in Spain can vary from 300mm to 1000mm per year, depending on the area, how come the Spanish are not suffering from water shortage the way parts of Britain are?
The most obvious reason is that water is metered and has been for decades. If the British had to pay for water, there is no doubt at all that consumption would fall dramatically.
Of course life is never simple and there are other factors to consider too. Like most utilities, the national water supply is part state owned here and the public service ethic rules over profit. The shocking figures of some UK water companies losing 27% in leakage would be considered intolerable here.
Prime Minister Zapatero has cancelled controversial plans, made by the previous government, to dam the Ebro river and instead, has invested in one hundred alternative, smaller, more eco friendly schemes.
These include twenty desalination plants to be powered by renewable energy, much of which already comes from hydro-electric generators, as well as wind turbines and solar power.
If there is an Achilles heel in Spanish water policy it is in the variable pricing system. The cost to the end user is dependent on the use to which the water is put. That seems sensible enough in principle and could well be developed further but it has encouraged some abuse.
Agriculture pays the least for its water, next comes industry, and so on. Tourism related businesses pay the most with the normal domestic user somewhere in the middle.
There is some debate about waste in the agricultural industry simply because the low cost does little to encourage efficiency and alternative irrigation schemes. There is an anomaly too, in that Spain is the EU’s largest exporter of vegetables, which almost amounts to exporting water. It is possible that agriculture will have to pay more in the future.
A domestic Spanish water bill will show exactly what you are paying for and a city apartment with one occupant may well pay less than 50% of it for the water consumed, the remainder of the bill being the process of treatment and delivery.
To understand the scale of the water issue, consider that the UN expects global water use to grow by 40% over the next 20years. Already most people in poor countries are receiving 10 litres a day at best. The World Health Organization considers 50 litres to be the minimum needed for health. The UK averages twice that and the US four times, at 200 litres a day per person.
Add that all up and the picture is not a happy one for some vested interests in Britain. Until everyone pays the real cost of water, many will still leave the tap running while cleaning their teeth, or the hose running while they wash the car. There will be similar examples for every walk of life from farming to business and you can probably add some from personal experience. However, with the population density that Britain has, metering is the only way to begin bringing some balance into the system.
That will be the easy bit. Most Brits are interested in environmental issues and will see the reason and inevitability of such a proposal. Also, the costs may be less than you fear and at least you will have some degree of control.
The wholly private water industry is another matter all together. It remains an open question if this government will summon the will to tackle the issue by insisting on investment in the disgracefully neglected infrastructure and using more state control to ensure supply. You will have noted one word that keeps cropping up in this debate. It is investment. Not something UK governments are good at.
In addition to forcing reason into an industry that is seen as completely crackpot over here, it would be a good idea to follow some other sensible Spanish practices like the alternative water scheme in Barcelona.
Barcelona is blessed with underground aquifers, which used to overflow - sometimes into the Metro system - during the torrential rain generated by its famous thunderstorms. This is now controlled and is piped to points all over the city where it is used for street cleaning, watering public parks and trees and other municipal operations. It is not treated drinking water and so is relatively cheap once the infrastructure is in place.
Not everywhere will have a natural resource but the principle is a good idea and water re-cycling – which could be the base for a scheme like this - is badly neglected in Britain.
Sadly, that neglect could be said to sum up some of the other polar opposites between Spain and Britain.
Public investment is not seen as a drain on the – already low - taxes here. It is simply a vital part of life, just like the subject of this article.
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