Lanzarote now in a state of “water emergency”

Lanzarote’s Water Consortium yesterday declared a state of water emergency on Lanzarote.

The decision had been expected for some weeks and will allow authorities to undertake measures to desalinate water and reduce losses more rapidly, without standard checks and processes.

The emergency declaration will be open to objections for some weeks before coming into force, probably in January. It will initially last for six months.

However, the vote was not unanimous. Socialist members of the Consortium either voted against the motion or did not attend the vote, while Óscar Noda, the Mayor of Yaiza and union rep Fermín Feo abstained.

Socialists have described the emergency announcement as “propaganda … fireworks intended to make it look as though the President of the Cabildo is doing something when he has actually done nothing for a year and a half.”  They have criticised plans to use public money to carry out repairs to the mains system when they claim it is the responsibility of the island’s private water supplier, Canal Gestion, to do so.