Greenpeace urge govt to act against water contamination

GLOBAL ecological watchdog “Greenpeace” gave a warning yesterday that the problems of providing an adequate water supply in the Balearics will intensify over the coming years. The claim was based on alleged high levels of water contamination and an ever-increasing demand. Greenpeace, fearing that the ongoing conservation of fresh water in the Balearics is in danger, urged the regional government to set up whatever measures may be necessary to alleviate such a “serious situation”. The watchdog has given a high profile to water deficiency in the Islands in their report Agua (water) which was released yesterday in Madrid. The findings highlighted the fact that several weeks ago, the Balearic government had acknowledged the “very poor” water quality in the region and that only 14 percent of local supply met environmental standards set by the Water Board. Greenpeace said that because of lack of fresh water on the surface of land on the Islands, only 14 percent of the region's underground rivers could expect to maintain a sufficiently high standard of chemical purity by the time 2015 came round. Greenpeace director, Juan Lopez de Uralde, considered it a matter of urgency for the government to legally prevent agricultural effluent seeping into the natural water supply systems of the Balearics. It is also crucial he said, to stop overexploiting such supplies but opposed the construction of desalination plants which are being supported by both regional and central governments as well as the European Community. “The fight against contamination is the only way to assure a natural water supply for future generations,” he claimed.