MÉS demands explanations from the Government for the changes in water reports revealed by ARA Balears

PalmaMÉS per Mallorca has registered a request in Parliament for the appearance of the Minister of the Sea and the Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, to explain the regulatory changes approved by the Government that allow avoiding or limiting Water Resources reports in certain urban development projects. The initiative comes after ARA Balears revealed that a modification introduced into the Omnibus Law opens the door to exempt some planning from re-certifying water availability.

The request, signed by deputies Maria Ramon, Lluís Apesteguia, Ferran Rosa, and Marta Carrió, calls for Lafuente's appearance before the Commission for Territorial Planning, Housing, Mobility, the Sea, and the Water Cycle. As stated in the document registered this Tuesday, the minister will have to "justify the approved measures that aim to eliminate and/or limit water resources reports in certain urban development projects".

The information published by ARA Balears revealed that the Government incorporated at the last minute an additional provision to the water regulations that allows not requesting new water sufficiency reports in some cases. The reform establishes that, if it is considered that there are no new water demands or that the circumstances that motivated previous reports have not varied, certain planning can continue processing without going through the filter of the General Directorate of Water Resources again.

Operations with impact

Several technical sources consulted by this newspaper warned that the new wording introduces exceptions in a particularly sensitive matter in the Balearic Islands and may increase the margin of interpretation for town councils when deciding whether a project should be subjected to a new water assessment. Some of these sources expressed fears that the reform could end up reducing the weight of the reports from Water Resources in urban planning operations with an impact on future water demand.

The controversy arises at a time of intense debate about the urban growth of Palma. As reported by ARA Balears, the City Council has approved various measures over the last year and a half to increase the buildability of developable areas, taking advantage of the extraordinary tools promoted by the Government to encourage housing construction. Sources familiar with the processing indicated that the City Council had pushed for new developments to be expedited despite the limitations associated with the availability of water resources.

Furthermore, reports previously prepared by Water Resources on Palma's general planning already warned that the city did not have enough water to accommodate all the residential growth planned until 2038. This context has fueled doubts about the real scope of the reform approved by the Government and about the guarantees that will be applied from now on in the review of urban projects.

With the request for a hearing registered this Tuesday, MÉS transfers the controversy to the regional parliament and forces the Government to provide public explanations about a legislative modification that has raised questions among specialists in urban planning and water management.