Alex Trelinski
BENALMADENA City Council has provisionally approved fines of up to €600,000 for people flouting drought measures if they are imposed in a serious situation.
Supplies could also be cut off for up to two days as part of a plan to be deployed in an emergency scenario.
Residents and groups will be able to submit comments and suggestions ahead of final approval of the new ordinance.
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The authority voted in an ordinance on Wednesday that has a range of financial penalties depending on whether they are for minor, serious or very serious infractions for drought measure breaking.
The ordinance states, among other things, that in situations of exceptional drought, supplies may be cut off when ‘excess consumption incompatible with the decreed savings or reductions’ is detected.
It adds that it would be a precautionary cut and would not be longer than 48 hours.
In times of an exceptional drought, the ordinance mentions the ‘limitation and partial and total prohibition of the use of drinking water for irrigation and washing, filling swimming pools, watering gardens, watering golf courses, ornamental fountains or public showers and fountains’.
A census will be taken of swimming pools for public use and private use by communities of owners, rural or agrotourism houses, and halls of residence.
All of them will have to carry out leak tests and leak control on an annual basis.
In addition, any newly-built public and private pools will have to apply physical or chemical treatments, even outside the bathing season, as well as maintaining water collection and recycling systems.
Benalmadena environment and water councillor, Juan Olea, said the ordinance provides the tools ‘to act and regulate’ during a situation when serious drought occurs.
“It is a regulation that is motivated by focusing on the times we are living in and those that will be lived as we are aware that severe droughts will return,” said Olea.
The aim of the regulation is to be “prepared for what’s coming’.
Olea said: “The City Council will have its own regulations, which pursue the conciliation and awareness of our neighbours to use water sensibly.”
