The PSIB deputy, Carol Marquès, has denounced the "lack of transparency" of the Govern regarding the situation of the aquifers of Menorca and, in particular, about the water mass of Maó, which came to stand at 23 percent, the lowest record of which there is evidence, which led to the declaration of drought alert.
Marquès has underlined that, while the regional Executive "downplayed the situation", the island's water reserves fell to 33 percent in August, a historic minimum, and that, in addition to Maó, five other municipalities were forced to impose water restrictions.
The parliamentarian has called into question the recovery of 17 points of the water mass of Maó in just three months, after a summer practically without precipitation and with "maximum consumption pressure", while the rest of the water masses continued in decline.
For this reason, she has expressed her doubts about the explanations offered by the Govern and has conveyed her reservations to the conseller of the Sea and the Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente. She wants to know whether he considers it plausible that the September water reserve data in this water mass may be linked to the rains of January and whether this apparent improvement could be related to the possible entry of seawater into the aquifer.
In this line, Marquès has reproached Lafuente for not having handed over the analyses she requested in writing in 2023 and for, instead, referring her to the Govern website, where only water quality data corresponding to the 2013-2018 period appear.
"Asking for updated data from recent years and being referred to information from more than eight years ago cannot precisely be defined as transparency", the deputy has stated, who sees it as "essential" to clarify what is happening with the water mass of Maó and whether a salinization process is taking place.
"The situation of the aquifers is alarming. But that the Govern does not explain with data what is happening is even more so", Marquès has warned.
For all this, the PSIB of Menorca has demanded of the Balearic Executive "transparency, updated analyses, concrete data and responsibilities". "After three years, suppositions are no longer enough and their solution is to look at the sky and wait for it to rain. In Menorca, water is not only needed, a Govern is needed that takes care of it and acts", she has stressed.
For his part, Lafuente has defended that the reports on the evolution of Menorca's water resources are prepared by civil servant personnel of the Govern and has highlighted that this Wednesday he will appear to detail the data, something which, in his view, constitutes a sign of "total and absolute transparency".
At the same time, he has lashed out against the "contradiction of the left" for reproaching the current Executive for waiting for the rain when, according to what he has pointed out, the water policy of previous legislatures has been characterized "for years and years" by "doing nothing".