Rainiest May on record, is a Godsend to the Barcelona region.

The recent record rainfall in May has probably averted further sanctions in the Barcelona region, below is a diary of recent events.

March 3rd

Regional Environment minister, Francesc Baltasar, confirmed today that it will cost an estimated €22 million euros a month to ship in 2.6 cubic hectometres of water for the drought-stricken Cataluña region from Tarragona, Carboneras (Almería) and Marseilles.

The first two of the ten tankers to be used in the operation will arrive in Barcelona from Tarragona port just down the coast during the first fortnight in May with a further five tankers from Marseilles expected in the second half of the month.

March 28th

Amid growing fears of another serious drought this summer, the inhabitants of the 33 towns and villages that constitute the Association of Municipalities of Metropolitan Barcelona (AMB) face fines of up to €3,000 for water wastage.

As of next week they will not be permitted to water their gardens, fill their swimming pools, or wash their cars on the street.


April 8th

The showers on Barcelona's beaches have been closed, there has also been a drastic reduction in the amount of water being used to irrigate public parks and gardens (only 18% are being watered regularly), and ground water is being used to clean the city's streets.


April 15th

62km of water pipes will be laid alongside the AP-7 toll motorway over the next few months to carry water from the Ebro river delta in Tarragona to address the extreme water shortage in Barcelona. This was the main outcome of a meeting yesterday between Environment minister and regional president José Montilla.

The deadline for the project, the budget for which is €160 million euros, has been brought forward by fifteen months, and must now be completed by the end of next October.


May 13th

The 'Sichem Defender', the first tanker loaded with emergency domestic water supplies from Tarragona, arrived in Barcelona port this morning at 8.30am.
It will take just seventeen hours to unload the 19,000 cubic litres on board.

Over the next four days, two further tankers - from Marseilles in France - are expected.

Once the process is fully up and running, a total of 1.6 cubic hectometres will be delivered to Barcelona each month - 35 tanker-loads from Tarragona and 38 from Marseilles.


May 14th

Water levels in the Ter-Llobregat reservoir system that supplies Barcelona have been swollen by twenty cubic hectometres to 28.9% of total capacity as a result of the recent heavy rain, meaning that the exceptional drought alert can be downgraded from a level two to a level one.

May 16th

The Cataluña government has decided to keep in place emergency drought measures that prohibit the use of domestic supplies for washing cars, watering gardens or filling swimming pools.

After a cabinet meeting yesterday, regional Environment minister, Francesc Baltasar, said that, failing a prolonged spell of heavy rain - which is not forecast - reservoir supplies would soon dip back below the level at which water restrictions would once again have to be imposed, pointing out that this would be "absurd."


May 20th

According to regional government statistics, water levels in the Ter-Llobregat reservoir system that supplies Barcelona city centre rose last week by 3.1% to 32.5% of their total capacity. Alarmingly, however, this is 42% lower than this time last year.

June 3rd

According to the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) last week's persistent rain raised levels in the region's reservoir network by 9.6% (+67 cubic hectometres) to 297.34 cubic hectometres.

Levels now stand at 43% of their total capacity at 297.34 cubic hectometres, a much healthier picture than at the start of April, when levels had fallen to nearly 20% - representing the most serious drought in the region for decades.
In the Ter-Llobregat basin that supplies Barcelona, levels now stand at 44% though emergency water usage restriction measures remain in place.
The drastic improvement in the situation, and with more rain forecast over the next few days at least, has led to the regional government of neighbouring Aragón to call for the cancellation of the mini-Ebro project to divert water from the Ebro river delta in Tarragona to Barcelona along pipes to be laid alongside the AP-7 toll motorway.


Rainiest May on record

According to weathermen at the Ebro Observatory meteorological station in Roquetas (Tarragona), last month's rainfall of 229.3 litres per square metre (l/m2) was the highest May result since records began in 1880.

Rain fell on twenty days last month, although on two of these less than 100ml was recorded.

The rainiest day was May 10th (71.5 l/m2) though this total is well down on the record set on May 29th 1957 when 119.5 l/m2 fell.

The previous record for May rainfall dates back to 2002 (224.9 l/m2) ahead of 1957 (204.1 l/m2) and 1921 (201 l/m2).