Palma approves the Water Management Plan despite warnings from technicians and environmentalists

PalmThe 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.

The second section outlines the program of measures: reducing leaks in the network, separating rainwater and wastewater, promoting the use of reclaimed water, implementing sustainable urban drainage systems, and an emergency plan to address drought events. This set of actions aims to increase efficiency and reduce dependence on aquifers, some of which show signs of overexploitation. "Palma's water situation is very serious in terms of aquifer overexploitation, because some already exceed legal extraction limits and are in critical condition; due to seawater intrusion, overexploitation, which could make their recovery impossible, and a growing dependence on desalination," explained Margal, head of the GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group), recently.

Finally, the third pillar establishes a monitoring system with control indicators, an annual report, and the creation of a Municipal Water Commission. According to Llorenç Bauzá de Keizer, Deputy Mayor for Natural Environment, Healthy Environments, Markets, Innovation, and Deputy Spokesperson for the municipal government team, the plan should be a "living document" that is updated periodically to adapt to evolving demand and the actual availability of resources.

The approval of the Sustainable Water Management Plan also falls within the mandate established by the Balearic Islands Hydrological Plan, approved through Royal Decree 49/2023, which requires municipalities to have their own water management roadmap. However, the agreement does not resolve the controversy. The governing team maintains that the document ensures the medium- and long-term water supply, but several technical reports insist that, without new infrastructure and more prudent growth planning, the city could reach its capacity limit. Cels García has summarized this on more than one occasion with a blunt statement: "The water numbers don't add up." This concern also appears in the technical documentation related to Palma's General Urban Development Plan (PGOU). Water resource specialists warn that the current system would not be able to handle the final stage of the projected growth. The plan, approved at the end of the previous term, structures development into four phases, and it is in the last phase, starting in 2035, that reports indicate water availability would not be guaranteed. Initially, the plan envisioned the construction of approximately 26,000 new homes over a sixteen-year period. However, following the approval of the regional decree-law to address the housing crisis, developers are no longer obligated to adhere to this timeline and can accelerate construction. Furthermore, nearly 20,000 additional homes have been added to the same developable land, further increasing the pressure on water resources that, according to experts, are already strained.