Mallorca doesn’t have enough water. No surprise we knew this for a long time. But the situation is gradually getting worse. Why?
Well, 100 years ago, the water was already short but there were only a few people living on the island and they were mindful with deciding for what to use water.
By today, tourism, an agricultural boom and strong urban growth is using up huge amounts of water. Also climate change with its unpredictable drouths and sudden floods is leading to a situation where the three water sources cannot supply enough water anymore.
Plus every one of these sources has a problem: reservoirs are dependent on enough rain, seawater desalination plants are environmentally harmful and deep wells for extracting groundwater only work up to a certain point- if you dig to deep the seawater starts getting in.
No, just working on getting more water won’t work – we have to change the habit of using too much water.
Why for example do you need to water golf courses and gardens to keep them green?
Easy, you don’t. You can just use plants native to Mallorca that don’t use that much water and maybe just not play golf.
There are many ways how you can be more mindful of the water you spend, it does not need to spend less water at home. Being mindful of water can also mean buying less clothes or consuming more regional products.
The point is that we need to act now and stop taking water for granted. Otherwise, many more regions will struggle with the same issues as Mallorca.
We decide how our world will look.
Well, 100 years ago, the water was already short but there were only a few people living on the island and they were mindful with deciding for what to use water.
By today, tourism, an agricultural boom and strong urban growth is using up huge amounts of water. Also climate change with its unpredictable drouths and sudden floods is leading to a situation where the three water sources cannot supply enough water anymore.
Plus every one of these sources has a problem: reservoirs are dependent on enough rain, seawater desalination plants are environmentally harmful and deep wells for extracting groundwater only work up to a certain point- if you dig to deep the seawater starts getting in.
No, just working on getting more water won’t work – we have to change the habit of using too much water.
Why for example do you need to water golf courses and gardens to keep them green?
Easy, you don’t. You can just use plants native to Mallorca that don’t use that much water and maybe just not play golf.
There are many ways how you can be more mindful of the water you spend, it does not need to spend less water at home. Being mindful of water can also mean buying less clothes or consuming more regional products.
The point is that we need to act now and stop taking water for granted. Otherwise, many more regions will struggle with the same issues as Mallorca.
We decide how our world will look.
JULIA FÉAUX DE LACROIX
Julia is a German Volunteer involved in the World Water Day.
