The forecasts are fulfilled: spring arrives loaded with rain

BarcelonaCatalonia will avoid returning to a drought emergency in 2025. The forecast for a rainy spring is already coming true this March, with widespread and abundant rainfall, especially in the headwaters of the inland basins. If we add to this the actions planned by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) to generate more water, this scenario is further from the horizon for the vast majority of the population. Spring arrives this Thursday, March 20, at 10:01 a.m., with reservoirs in the inland basins already overflowing due to rainfall in recent weeks, already exceeding 47%, tripling the figures from just a year ago. All these factors suggest that this year's reserves will remain far below the critical 16% threshold that implies entering a drought emergency.

"If the forecasts made by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) come true, together with the works that are being deployed and will come into operation this year, we would avoid entering an emergency this year," sources from the Catalan Water Agency assured ARA a few weeks ago. Three main months of spring - March, April and May - will see the usual or even above-average rainfall. Keep in mind that spring is a very rainy time of year in Catalonia. This continues, especially thanks to the month of April, which is the wettest than usual," sources from the SMC explained to ARA.

And it seems that this year April could be especially rainy. For the moment, the first fortnight of March has started the meteorological spring on the right foot, since the rainfall has been abundant and widespread. And the forecasts indicate that in the short and medium term the weather will continue to be unsettled, with the risk of further rain. Good news after a winter that has been mostly dry, allowing the historic drought we've been experiencing for more than three years to continue. The Aemet seasonal report also indicates that the winter has been warm or very warm overall.

Regarding works to produce more water, an additional 31 cubic hectometres (hm³) are expected to be available by the end of this year thanks to the actions the Government has planned throughout the year. For example, the use of water from wells, the incorporation of flows from the Rubí stream into the Llobregat River for drinking water treatment in Sant Joan Despí, and the expansion of the Trinitat water treatment plant.

All of this is part of the government's package of measures planned until 2034, which should allow for up to 280 hm³ more water to be available thanks to increased desalination and water regeneration and the use of more resources from the Besòs River, among others. The goal is that in less than ten years, 70% of water demand will not depend on reservoirs.

Clara improves in one year

Despite suffering a historic drought of more than three years, the situation has clearly improved in just one year, especially in recent weeks. At the beginning of March, reserves were below 15%—less than half of what they are now—and reached an all-time low (14.41%). Six million inhabitants were under a drought emergency. However, the rains this March have brought all of Catalonia out of the emergency, and some regions are no longer under exceptional conditions or on alert, thanks to reserves exceeding 40%.

The rains of late spring last year were key to reviving and boosting reserves, but the improvement in the reservoirs in the inland basins has been very uneven over the last year, until this March, when they soared thanks to the widespread and abundant rainfall. The two large reservoirs, Baells and Susqueda, are breathing easier and are currently at 79% and 41% capacity, respectively. Riudecanyes and Siurana are now at 36% and 15% capacity, respectively, and Darnius-Boadella has seen a spectacular increase, rising from 17% to 38%. Sau has also soared to 40%. In contrast, the Catalan reservoirs of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE) remain very high, above 70%.

Despite the clear improvement in the situation, more water is still needed to begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this eternal drought. The rainfall, the large amount of snow accumulated in the high Pyrenees, and the forecast for a rainy spring suggest a very positive scenario before summer.