http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=engA ship loaded with drinking water has arrived in Barcelona as part of an unprecedented emergency plan to alleviate a drought. The regional government of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, said 10 shiploads will arrive every two months. "The shipments are stopgap measures to avoid restrictions until a desalination plant is finished," said a spokeswoman. The ship was carrying more than four million gallons of water, roughly enough to satisfy a day's requirements for 180,000 people. Spain is suffering its driest spring since records began 60 years ago. Catalonia is one of the worst-hit regions, with reservoirs at about a fifth of their capacity, compared with reservoirs on average half-full nationally. With no rainfall in sight, authorities fear the reservoirs could drop to 15% of their capacity, a level at which it is no longer recommended that water be used for human consumption.
Authorities hope a new desalination plant - one of the biggest in Europe - will be operational by next May and will resolve much of Catalonia's water woes. The five million people living in the greater Barcelona area use more than 200 million gallons of water a day. The ship imports are expected to provide the equivalent of less than three days' water a month. With the busy summer tourist season ahead, the region has been moving frantically to avoid serious cuts in supply. Already city fountains and beach showers have been turned off and restrictions placed on filling large swimming pools. The Socialists promote desalination plants as a way to solve the problem and say regions should live with the water they have. But the agreement to help Catalonia with the latest transfer, although infinitely smaller in comparison, has enraged Valencia and Murcia. )
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'having a water fight' doesn't mean what it used to
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