Coming after the driest June on record, the Balearic Government's director of water resources, Joan Calafat, offers some reassurance about water reserves in the Balearics - these are at 48%, just two points lower than at the same time last year. July has been addressing the June deficit, but the whole of the Balearics remain on pre-alert for drought. This is with the exception of Formentera, where there is great reliance on desalination.
Calafat points to the growing importance of desalination in general. In 2024, it accounted for 20% of the islands' water supply. He anticipates this will be 25% this year. "We're breaking desalination records, but it's not about having more of this resource. It's about radically transforming the model with an infrastructure programme and a change in management that focuses on efficiency, reuse, and reducing losses in the supply networks, with a target of 17% leakage by 2027. No municipality will be able to exceed 25% losses in that timeframe. We are going to invest €280 million in the water cycle, €127 million of which comes from the tourist tax.
"We need to improve current desalination plants, build new ones, and expand Mallorca's high-level network to reach as many municipalities as possible. All of this requires years of processing and implementation. Meanwhile, over 40% of the aquifers are in poor condition due to excess nitrates or salinisation. Extraction must be substantially reduced."
Curious though it may sound, Calafat explains that the Alcudia desalination plant is supplying water to Palma because the municipal supply is insufficient, even though the capital's desalination plant is operating at maximum capacity.
"Renovation of Palma's plant has been put out to tender for €40 million; it's 26 years old. Another example. Without the contribution from the Sa Costera spring, Soller and Fornalutx would not have enough water now. Water from Sa Costera is currently not going to Palma because the Soller Valley region needs it. This situation will be truly critical if there isn't enough rain this winter. Then we will have to emphasise the importance of desalination.
"The Alcudia desalination plant, which also needs to be expanded, supplies Pollensa and Playa de Muro, but not Alcudia itself. We will connect it to Alcudia and to Sa Pobla. This will reduce extractions from the aquifers and will allow five more cubic hectometres to reach Albufera. The high-water network must go to Manacor and Sineu and then continue to expand throughout the Pla region. The Palma desalination plant must also be connected directly to Marratxi. All of these projects have to be carried out in parallel over the coming years, not one after the other."
The plan is to build three new desalination plants, one in Mallorca, one in Menorca, one in Ibiza. "The one in Mallorca will be located in the east, probably Felanitx, from where it could supply the east and the south and connect to the high-capacity network when it reaches Manacor."
As to future water demand, Calafat refers to a study by the University of the Balearic Islands. "In the case of Mallorca, its projections indicate an increase in potential water consumption in all scenarios. If we continue as we are now, in ten years the increase would be 20 cubic hectometres, which would be equivalent to another desalination plant. In the best-case scenario, even if we are more efficient and reduce losses in the municipal networks, the increase would be about 7.7 cubic hectometres, equivalent to the average contribution of the Gorg Blau and Cuber reservoirs, taking into account that these can never be completely emptied."