Water transfers, “one more alternative” to alleviate the drought

The regional president of Andalusia, Juan Manuel Moreno, defended that the transfers of water be treated as “one more alternative” to alleviate the drought and appealed to “do not throw away” this option and study it “specifically for each territory.”

Despite the political disputes between Spanish regions that have unleashed projects to transfer water from some rivers in the past, Moreno pointed out that transfers could be the “solution” for certain territories, although he admitted that “You must always be very cautious.”

“Desalination, purification and water transfers are part of the strategy that must be carried out in terms of water,” the leader stated in an interview with EFE in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), during his attendance at the United Nations climate summit, COP28, which he also attends as vice president of the European Committee of the Regions (CdR).

Moreno insisted that water transfers are “something normal” and commented that his cabinet is already carrying them out “within Andalusia and even within the provinces”and detailed that they are now working to close another project that will bring them water from Portugal.

“What is needed is a global strategy as a country and, above all, putting water as an absolute priority. Many times I see that the discourse of water does not exist, but without water there is no life, no tourism, no agriculture or industry”lament.

He warned that a prolongation of the drought could lead to “economic ruin”, because behind this phenomenon there are “farmers who have had to abandon their farms” and, for this reason, he goes to the UN climate summit wanting to “learn about innovation projects in water management.”

On Sunday, Moreno visited a desalination plant near Dubai, in a country – the United Arab Emirates – that largely depends on this technology to guarantee its water supply.

More weight of cities and regions in the climate fight

In his role as vice president of the European Committee of the Regions, Moreno also claimed that policies against climate change “Go down to the local level” and hopes that States will end up accepting a greater role for regional and local governments in the final agreement of the Dubai summit.

“The only ones who can increase the sensitivity of all citizens are the upcoming administrations: it is very important that the average citizen understands how important it is for their health, their economy and their future that we achieve the decarbonization objectives,” projection.

The Committee of the Regions goes to COP28 with the objective that countries agree to involve local and regional governments in the development of climate policies that must implement the Paris Agreement, with its objective of preferably limiting it to 1.5 degrees global warming compared to the pre-industrial era.