200 representatives of water management in the municipalities share good practices to deal with the drought

• Cases have been shared in municipalities such as Muntanyola, Peralada, Caldes de Malavella, Vic, Mataró, Terrassa, Manresa, Barcelona and the Metropolitan Area
• The CWP has been offered as a meeting space to learn about successful, problematic and pilot development cases to test innovative technologies.

On January 31st, the day “Good municipal practices in the management of drought in a context of water emergency” was held at the CaixaForum Macaya, which was attended by 200 people in a hybrid format. The purpose of the day was to share the actions that have been carried out in municipalities in Catalonia, both large and small, to deal with the drought as well as to present technological solutions from entities associated with the cluster to help improve the efficiency of the network, digitize or promote reuse among others. The event began with a welcome from the president of the CWP, Jordi Cros, in which he wanted to highlight the role of the Catalan Water Partnership in helping all actors in the water sector and users of this resource in measures to ‘savings, efficiency and reuse in a time as complicated as the current one.

Xavier Amores, director of the CWP, presented different projects in which the organization is involved and highlighted those focused on improving water management in municipalities but also in sectors such as industry, tourism or services. He also explained that the CWP has organized around thirty events focused solely on drought with more than 3,600 attendees over the last year and around fifteen innovative projects in this area.

The program was followed by a presentation by Samuel Reyes, director of the ACA, who spoke about how to face the challenges of the climate emergency and drought from the local world and the role of the ACA through some of the aid intended for the municipal world. He emphasized the importance of the work from the municipal world, also of the commitment to digitization, investments, the speed in executing these works taking advantage of all the incentives and that given the time of the start of many municipal legislatures it was necessary to rethink the price of water and which investments should the Councils prioritize given the severity of the drought.

In order to be able to provide an overview of different good practices, two blogs were created, one in which cases in small municipalities were exposed, and the second in which initiatives carried out in medium and large municipalities were discussed. In the first case, we were able to hear the cases of: Muntanyola, by Salvador Graus technical director of Aigües de Vic, Peralada, by Jordi Johé responsible for Girona Nord d’Aqualia and Caldes de Malavella, by Sergi Mir, first lieutenant of mayor of Caldes de Malavella. In the case of this first block, it should be noted that, in a relevant way in small municipalities, a good knowledge of the system, digitization and the establishment of indicators that allow actions to be monitored, is key to improving efficiency , as well as promoting public awareness and public-private collaboration. It was also highlighted how municipalities that were not obliged by their size have made drought plans that have helped to deal with the current situation or how, thanks to technology, yields close to 85% were being achieved.

The day continued with the presentation of internships completed in five large cities in Catalonia: Vic, by Guillem Treserra, of Aigües de Vic, Mataró, by Raquel Compta, managing director of Aigües de Mataró, Terrassa, by Ramón Vázquez , manager of Taigua, Manresa, by David Güell, director of operation of Aigües de Manresa and Barcelona and the metropolitan area, by Josep Lluís Armenter, coordinator of the drought plan of Aigües de Barcelona. Among the different good practices, it is necessary to highlight the modernization of management systems by prioritizing investments in digitization and sensorization, personalized and user-centered awareness campaigns, effective coordination between all the agents involved, design of data-based management systems , bet on alternative water sources such as regenerated water and reuse. Thus, the commitment to regeneration was also highlighted, with emblematic projects such as indirect reuse in the Llobregat River.

In the last of the round tables, we also wanted to give a voice to those companies in the cluster that provide solutions applicable to municipalities and that through technology and digitization promote savings, reuse and efficiency. We were able to listen to the presentations by David García, director of supplies at Aigües de Catalunya who spoke to us about the digitization of services to improve the reliability of data and its management. Àngel Dutras, director of Prodaisa, who explained Prodaisa’s trajectory in municipal water management and the main challenges facing small and medium-sized municipalities. Santi Singla, responsible for new technologies at Hidroglobal, who explained the application of new technologies for the reduction of unregistered water. The table was closed by Alberto Jiménez, director of ADASA’s digital solutions area, who presented a solution for the detection, location and dimensioning of leaks using artificial intelligence.

The day was used to be able to present those cases that are an example of good water management, a critical element in the context of the water emergency and drought that Catalonia is currently experiencing. In addition, it acted as a meeting point for different public entities such as city councils, county councils or deputations with the business sector, being a good example of public-private cooperation between various entities in the worst drought in Catalonia in recent decades.