In 1952, when Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom, Isaac Asimov published a story whose plot was based on the struggle for water between Earth and the colonies of Mars. In other words, more than 70 years ago, Asimov already understood that a water crisis could endanger an entire planet. Or two. And that water is not a resource that can be squandered. In fact, from ‘Dune’ (Frank Herbert) to the screenwriters of ‘Mad Max’ (George Miller and Byron Kennedy), many science fiction authors have seen in the possibilities of water scarcity an apocalyptic plot.Well then, the Islands are already living an apocalyptic plot: there is no water, but we continue growing, building, expanding airports and increasing the number of tourists as if we had water. What could go wrong?At the beginning of this year, the United Nations, in a landmark report, declared that the world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy. In other words, many ecosystems have reached the point of no return, because human demand, with its unsustainable progress, has exhausted aquifer savings and dried up the wells of the future. The entire planet's water system is at risk. And, on this desolate map, we can understand islands like the Balearics —located in a Mediterranean that is warming above average and sold to tourism and unbridled concrete— as the paradigm of shipwreck in dry dock, the small-scale experiment of the consequences of the policy of excess. What happens when a society behaves as if a finite resource were infinite?Thus, amid the widespread absurdity, the Archipelago rises, once again, as the champion of nonsense. Attila preventing the grass from growing. In the Islands, we still don't understand what we're playing with regarding water. And this despite all indicators showing we're reaching a very dangerous limit. Water reserves are not reaching 40% on any island. Menorca's reserves have fallen to historic lows. In Ibiza, the largest part of the underground water masses are overexploited and salinized. And the precipitation regime is disrupted due to climate change.It is true that many municipalities have established restrictions — supply cuts or restrictions on irrigation and swimming pools — but if construction continues and human pressure increases, these measures will be like putting band-aids on Smith and Wesson .45 wounds.We are living a water crisis within a climate crisis that threatens our future. And, in reality, it's not that we don't understand it (I think many of us do), it's that whoever sets the agenda for our rulers is a business sector that, in its infinite arrogance, believes that money buys everything and that their navel is above all things in the universe. One fine day I reproached the person in charge of the company that brings us water to our homes —the water oligarchs— that, with the critical situation of the aquifers, they didn't turn off the tap (never better said) to those who ask for five trucks a day for swimming pools and gardens. He answered me that, in reality, he should offer these wasters a better price than me, because they are their best clients. And this is the philosophy. The laws of the market applied to a resource of all that they have privatized without anyone setting limits. Suicidal capitalism, once again.And, ultimately, the limits, of course, are always for those of us who already save water. Individual consciousness as an alibi for not discussing the decisions of those who truly waste. And if not, just ask the pharaoh of Sant Antoni de Portmany (read Mayor Marcos Serra), who, in full drought alert, authorized a party where an Egyptian setting was recreated with a lake that required 170 tons of water to be poured. Water as decoration; the shape of the water we were missing to see.In Asimov's story, titled Martian Way, Earth is about to stop supplying water to Mars —and I don't know if this will be a spoiler, but the book is from 1952—, so the Martians, to avoid depending on Earth's water, decide to go search for an enormous block of ice in Saturn's rings. What some would call technological solutions. And perhaps they themselves will tell me that, after all, an Archipelago is surrounded by water, and that the solution is desalination. But if anyone still thinks that way, I will recommend a short trip to Talamanca, where Ibiza's desalination plant discharges the brine from the desalination process through an outfall under a cliff. There, right there, there should be a splendid seagrass meadow. But the desalination plant has destroyed it. The ecological cost of desalination is too high. And until we can go get ice from Saturn's rings, we either stop building or die of thirst.

Pacma has filed an administrative complaint and a request for public and environmental information access to clarify the installation of an artificial lake during a private party held at La Pedrera, in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza.

Controversy in Sant Antoni de Portmany over an artificial lake installed during an Egyptian-themed party. The City Council has stated that it had no prior knowledge that the organization planned to create this ornamental element or to use water for it during the event, held last week at La Pedrera.

Water reserves have never been so low in Menorca, only at 34% of capacity, and the pre-alert situation is beginning to alarm everyone. The Administration has arrived late to act and has not listened in time to specialists like engineer José Antonio Fayas, who had long warned that in the last decade practically nothing has been done to stop overexploiting aquifers, limit swimming pools, increase the cost of water, and reuse the regenerated water that comes out of treatment plants.

The Balearic Islands face a complicated summer in terms of water supply and, more worryingly, a race against time to guarantee this resource in the coming years. The problem is no longer just whether it will rain more or less in the coming months, but whether the current system, at its limit during the summer months, will be able to withstand while the infrastructure to reduce dependence on aquifers arrives. The Islands are preparing an offensive of investments in desalination, reuse, supply networks, and sanitation, but a good part of these actions are still in the project, tender, or execution phase.

When water is not enough, room for manoeuvre runs out. It is the most basic limit any society has. And the Balearic Islands have started this summer closer to that limit than in recent years. Water reserves have dropped again. Menorca registers the worst levels. Almost fifty municipalities – 47 out of the 67 that exist – entered the summer in a state of alert or pre-alert for drought. The Government itself admits that climate change will make droughts longer, rainfall more irregular, and aquifer recharge more difficult. These are not catastrophic forecasts, they are official data.

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.