Lanzarote water emergency to be declared

Lanzarote Water Consortium yesterday voted to declare a state of water emergency on Lanzarote, allowing various measures to be taken with faster, simplified procedures.

The decision was supported by the Cabildo and the Mayors of Arrecife, Teguise and Tinajo. Yaiza abstained from the vote, and the three Socialist Mayors of Tías, San Bartolomé and Haría did not attend the meeting. The Socialists have described the emergency declaration as an “empty decision” that will only worsen the crisis.

The emergency state will allow faster procedures to be carried out on various measures, including increasing desalination on the island by repairing plants at the Diaz Rijo desalination plant and hiring smaller desalination machines; reducing leakages in the mains system and saving non-essential uses of water.

To save water, rules will be introduced to limit how much water councils can use in areas such as watering public gardens, beach showers, street cleaning and fountains.