Hydrological plan of the Balearic Islands: useful tool or worthless piece of paper

On April 3, 2025, the public consultation on the initial documents for the development of the new hydrological plan for the Balearic Islands was opened. Six months later, the public consultation on the key issues of the future plan was launched, and it remains open until March 6. All of this is part of a complex and lengthy process governed by the European Water Framework Directive, the Water Law, and the Hydrological Planning Regulations. It will continue with the drafting and consultation of the proposed plan and, if all goes well, with the approval of the new hydrological plan in 2028. Four years of development for a plan with a six-year validity period (2028-2033). It can be said that hydrological planning is being developed with the strongest requirements for information and public participation in our autonomous community. Furthermore, this cycle of drafting, approval, and implementation of the hydrological plan is repeated, and this new hydrological plan will be the fourth. Meanwhile, the third Hydrological Plan for the period 2022-2027 is currently being implemented. The result will be new regulations governing water resource management and a new program of measures outlining the necessary actions to conserve and restore the health of the Balearic Islands' water bodies: aquifers, streams, wetlands, and coastal waters. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the new hydrological plan's development, it hasn't received much publicity from the relevant social and economic sectors, and participation in the initial participatory workshops has been minimal. Political leaders with water-related responsibilities have also had little involvement in the process. So far, the main conclusion is that the Hydrological Plan has generated little interest. This is nothing new; we have a weak culture of participation, both on the part of the public, who don't find their requests addressed during these processes, and on the part of our elected officials, who can enjoy greater freedom making decisions behind closed doors without having to adhere to a plan agreed upon with the public. An example of this latter point has been the push for a fourth desalination plant on the island of Ibiza. This action was not included in the program of measures of the current 2022-2027 Hydrological Plan, but it has been included as a priority measure by the regional government during this legislative term, despite the lack of any demand from Ibiza's civil society. This contradiction was evident at the last Ibiza Water Dialogue Forum we organized last autumn. This participatory space has been promoted by the Water Alliance for the past 10 years to foster a participatory culture, given the absence of other regulated and public spaces that promote debate and consensus on water issues on our island.

The forum saw high participation due to public concern about the severe drought we were still experiencing and the recent severe flooding. Representatives from farmers, environmental groups, and neighborhood associations participated, as well as representatives from the tourism and business sectors. Before municipal and regional political leaders, there was a broad consensus to call for accelerating actions primarily aimed at controlling well extractions, maximizing the use of desalination water to allow aquifers to recover, and closing the water cycle—the real challenge facing the Balearic Islands. Tourist overcrowding and urban development were also frequently mentioned by attendees as the main causes of the current depletion and salinization of our aquifers. The demand for a fourth desalination plant was raised, but the request received very little support. Even so, the construction of the fourth desalination plant continues, and the drafting of the project has recently been put out to tender.

However, the Water Alliance will continue to advocate for the importance of the hydrological plan to reach consensus and achieve long-term water governance. In this regard, we must highlight the significant effort made by the technicians of the hydrological planning service of the Directorate General of Water Resources of the Balearic Government. On the one hand, they have prepared a comprehensive analysis of the current situation, resulting in initial documents of over 1,000 pages, necessary to begin the planning process. On the other hand, they have made a concerted effort to synthesize this information by producing a short document for each key issue they have identified. Furthermore, over the past few months, we have been able to discuss each of these issues in more than 10 participatory workshops and propose measures to address the water crisis affecting our islands. This analytical, regulatory, planning, and participatory strength of the hydrological plan makes it the most useful tool for carrying out actions that require more than two or three legislative terms. In this way, the hydrological plan could be the best opportunity to overcome the political shifts of every four years, a crucial issue when investments require more than two or three legislative terms from planning to implementation.

The challenge is enormous, and it must be said that, to date, every hydrological plan has failed, and we have already endured more than twenty years of hydrological planning. It suffices to say that 60% of the aquifers in the Balearic Islands are overexploited, salinized, or polluted. Of all the islands, Ibiza suffers the worst situation, with over 80% of its aquifers in poor condition. It should come as no surprise, then, when a new drought hits and all our shortcomings are laid bare: water cuts, a decline in the quality of the water in our taps, and the abandonment of agricultural activity due to lack of water. We also haven't done our homework in the area of ​​sanitation, and every year the news reports the decline in beach water quality due to fecal contamination—a significant risk to our health, but also to the reputation of the Balearic Islands as a tourist destination. And when it's not that, we have a flash flood that shows us how urbanization has occurred in inappropriate areas. No matter which island we're on, we all share the same problems, exacerbated by climate change. This inability to solve water problems leads us to the conclusion that any announcement of multi-million euro investments in water infrastructure will be useless if urban sprawl is not halted. In this sense, the current regional government's deregulation of urban planning has unfortunately gone in that direction. It seems to be governing with a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome; on the one hand, the investment launched this legislative term is very positive, but on the other, it continues to promote tourism and urban development that demands more and more water.

A new, ambitious hydrological plan and limiting growth are fundamental tasks to address the serious water crisis our islands are experiencing, but another key issue if we want to reverse this situation is how to accelerate the implementation of these actions. Therefore, it would also be necessary to modernize public administrations and achieve greater productivity among public employees, but who will bell the cat? If no one does anything, a Milei or a Trump will eventually come along with their chainsaw to make cuts and dismantle the public administration under the pretext of inefficiency. It will depend on our leaders to listen to society, take on these challenges, and ensure that the new water management plan doesn't become just another empty promise.