The Governing Board of Palma City Council (Cort) approved the Sustainable Water Management Plan this Wednesday, the roadmap with which the City Council intends to guarantee the short- and long-term water supply in a context of urban growth and pressure on water resources. The measure comes at a time when the viability of supplying the 46,000 new homes planned for the city over the next decade is being questioned, and amid technical warnings about the current limitations of the water system. The document, promoted by the City Council and implemented primarily through Emaya (the municipal water company), proposes a series of investments and measures to increase water availability and reduce losses. Among the key actions are: the future desalination plantThe plan includes improved aquifer management; pipeline renewal to minimize losses; and enhanced treatment and storage capacity, with plans to expand treatment capacity to 90,000 cubic meters per day with the new WWTP II. The plan is structured in three main sections. The first is a diagnostic analysis of Palma's urban and population context, an evaluation of available resources—aquifers, desalination, reservoirs, and reclaimed water—and a projection of future demand. It is at this point that experts warn that the residential growth scenario necessitates prudent planning and the securing of new water sources before authorizing certain developments. "It doesn't add up. To begin with, we must remember that the Hydrological Plan mandates reducing the use of underground aquifers by 80% to protect them, something that is neither being done nor taken into account," says Cels García, Professor of Geography at the University of the Balearic Islands.

Water reserves in the Balearic Islands rose two percentage points in January to reach 51% of capacity, and Ibiza entered a normal situation, something that had not happened since December 2022. By island, Mallorca rose from 49% to 51%; Menorca, from 46% to 49%, and Ibiza, from 48% to 51%.

As every summer, the Balearic Islands Government publishes data on water consumption and losses in the island municipalities' water supply networks. This year, these data were released in September, at the same time as the Government itself announced the entry into a drought alert for the island of Ibiza and a large part of the municipalities of the Pla de Mallorca region. The rest of the islands' territories are not entirely spared and have been in a worrying pre-drought alert situation for some time. Only Formentera is in a normal situation, largely because it does not depend on groundwater, given that 100% of urban water consumption and consumption on rural land is supplied with desalinated water. It could be said that without the desalination plant, Formentera would be hydrically dead. Or in other words, it's like having a patient living a normal life without knowing that they are completely dependent on technology and the associated energy dependence, with the risks that this entails.

In 2024, the Balearic Islands consumed a total of 111.3 cubic hectometres of water, or 111.3 billion litres, which represents a staggering increase of more than 4.8% in a single year compared to 2023. But the most worrying aspect is that a 24.4 cubic hectometres of water within a 2024 dam did not reach its destination because it was lost due to the countless cracks and leaks in the distribution system. The data, which has just been published by the Balearic Water Agency, basically conveys two ideas: the situation is improving slightly with a very small reduction in leaks, but the significant increase in consumption year after year means this is not noticeable, and therefore the water demand continues to far exceed available resources.