Presented on Tuesday by the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council’s Public Services department, a series of measures is being introduced at the municipal level in response to the water emergency declared on the island, primarily affecting the Southwest, Center-Ifara, and Anaga districts.
Santa Cruz Mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, outlined the collaborative efforts between the City Council and the Empresa Mixta de Aguas de Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Emmasa) to ensure responsible drinking water consumption. This includes introducing a colour-coded system, similar to a ‘traffic light’, to regulate water usage.
“It is our responsibility to progress and work together to secure water supply, considering the ongoing drought and anticipated rise in summer temperatures,” he stated.
Prior to this emergency declaration, Santa Cruz had already been actively promoting responsible water usage practices. These guidelines are now incorporated into a new protocol urging residents to adopt measures for responsible consumption.
Public Services Councillor, Carlos Tarife, detailed the activation of a specific action protocol based on the storage capacity within the tanks across the three sectors of the drinking water distribution network in the Southwest, Center-Ifara, and Anaga districts.
“Operating with three distinct colour-coded levels, akin to a traffic light, green indicates no water use restrictions, while orange and red signify varying levels of restrictions or prohibitions,” he elaborated.
Threshold at 45%
If the drinking water reservoirs hold 45% or more, Santa Cruz will be in a favourable position with no usage restrictions.
This condition corresponds to a green indication on the water traffic light system.
“Upon reaching this threshold, an awareness campaign will be launched by the City Council and Emmasa regarding responsible water usage through social media and other platforms to educate Santa Cruz residents about the challenges posed by the water emergency,” the councillor explained.
An orange indication on the municipality’s water traffic light denotes an intermediary level, indicating a storage percentage between 25% and 45%.
In such cases, notifications will be issued about restrictions on street cleaning, outdoor washing services, beach showers, public and private bathing areas, car washing outside dedicated facilities, sports, recreational zones, hotel areas, drinking water consumption at the port, and closure of public fountains.
A red indication on the water traffic light signifies storage below 25%.
“If falling into this category, a significant reduction in water consumption is necessary for the city, transitioning from restrictions to complete prohibitions on water usage,” Tarife highlighted.
In the event Santa Cruz records less than 25% of standard storage in the tanks, prohibitions including water usage in beach showers, public and private bathing areas, street cleaning, public jet closures, public and private pool filling prohibition, car washes, private vehicle washing, park and garden irrigation, shopping centre water usage restrictions, and continuous pressure reduction in the drinking water network will be enforced.
Southwest Desalination Project
Director of the Public Services department, Juan Fernando Cano, mentioned, “Following last year’s fire, temporary measures were implemented to increase water supply from the desalination plant to the Southwest district. A pipeline was installed to deliver 1,200 cubic metres of desalinated water daily.”
He added, “A recent project began last week on the Ofra-El Chorrillo road to double the desalinated water supply capacity, expected to be completed next year.”
He emphasised ongoing efforts to double desalinated water production at the plant.
“At present, we produce 28,000 cubic metres daily, with plans to increase to 40,000 cubic metres, aiming for 60,000 in the future,” Juan Fernando Cano stated.
Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez reiterated that these measures will be implemented transparently, with information shared through standard channels.
“Climate change has led us to face a situation that directly and irreversibly affects us. We must be conscious and responsible with water, an essential life resource that unfortunately continues to become scarcer every day,” he emphasised.
The City Council urged citizens, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and households in the municipality to collaborate and participate in water conservation efforts.
