Jordi Agustí Vergés, General Director for Water Transition at Generalitat de Catalunya
“The AIGUANEIX project represents very well the kind of solutions that we need to promote within the framework of the water transition”
Jordi Agustí Vergés has an extensive professional background linked to the public management of the integrated water cycle in Catalonia. He has held senior positions at municipal, supramunicipal and regional levels, including Director of the Catalan Water Agency and Manager of the Costa Brava Girona Water Consortium. Throughout his career, he has promoted strategic projects focused on water resilience, water reuse and the sustainable management of resources.
What assessment can be made of the 2021-2025 drought episode in terms of its impact on water supply systems, water governance and resource planning in Catalonia?
The 2021-2025 drought episode has probably been the most demanding challenge faced by the Catalan water system in recent decades. It tested the robustness of water supply systems, especially those most dependent on surface resources and aquifers under structural pressure.
Despite the severity of the situation, it is important to highlight that the system responded relatively well thanks to strategic decisions taken in previous years: the development of desalination, reclaimed water reuse and indirect potable reuse in the Llobregat River. Overall, these infrastructures made it possible to maintain supply guarantees under highly complex conditions.
However, the drought also revealed that the hydrological model —including both infrastructures and governance— on which much of the system was designed is no longer fully suited to current realities. In this context, work is underway to move towards a model based on resource diversification, water circularity and more integrated governance between administrations, operators and the territory.
The drought should therefore not only be understood as a temporary crisis, but also as a catalyst that has accelerated strategic decision-making aimed at adapting water management to the climatic conditions of the 21st century.
Based on recent experience, what structural deficits or areas for improvement do you still identify in integrated water management in Catalonia (infrastructure, regulation, reuse, efficiency and planning)?
Recent experience has highlighted several areas where there is still clear room for improvement. First of all, it is essential to continue advancing in the diversification of water sources. Despite progress in desalination and reuse, there are still territories that remain highly dependent on conventional resources and may be vulnerable during prolonged drought periods.
Secondly, demand management and system efficiency must be strengthened. Municipal water supply networks still experience significant losses in some cases, and sustained investment programmes are needed to improve infrastructure renewal and modernisation.
It is also important to continue progressing in advanced water reuse, particularly for environmental uses and support of supply systems, as well as in managed aquifer recharge. These solutions make it possible to generate new local resources and strengthen territorial resilience.
Finally, further work is needed to ensure increasingly integrated hydrological planning aligned with efficient public management policies, while reinforcing cooperation between administrations and operators involved in the integrated water cycle.
What are the main strategic priorities currently being deployed by the Directorate General for Water Transition to move towards a resilient, decarbonised and climate-adapted model?
The Directorate General for Water Transition is working on a strategy based on three major pillars. The first is water security, which involves increasing resource availability through new non-conventional sources such as desalination, advanced reuse and the generation of local resources through circular solutions.
The second pillar is territorial resilience, with a clear commitment to decentralised systems that reduce municipal vulnerability to extreme events. In this field, aquifer recovery and active management play a fundamental role.
The third pillar is the decarbonisation of the water cycle. Water production and transport involve significant energy consumption, making it necessary to promote the integration of renewable energy, energy optimisation of infrastructures and the digitalisation of management systems.
Together, these priorities shape a model that combines water supply security, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, fully aligned with climate adaptation goals.
How does the AIGUANEIX project fit into the water transition strategy, particularly in relation to advanced purification, indirect potable reuse and managed aquifer recharge?
The AIGUANEIX project represents very well the type of solutions that need to be promoted within the framework of the water transition. This innovative project developed in Roses explores the possibility of transforming reclaimed wastewater into a new high-quality water resource, turning what has traditionally been considered a discharge flow into a strategic resource within a circular water model.
From a public policy perspective, AIGUANEIX is especially relevant because it integrates three key concepts: indirect potable reuse, managed aquifer recharge and the generation of local water supply resources. These types of solutions help reduce pressure on coastal aquifers and prevent phenomena such as saltwater intrusion, while reinforcing water supply security in territories particularly vulnerable to climate variability.
For me personally, it is also a particularly meaningful project because it forms part of many years of work carried out by the Costa Brava Girona Water Consortium in the field of reuse and innovation in the water cycle. During my previous period at the Consortium, I had the opportunity to promote several lines of work in this direction, and AIGUANEIX —conceived thanks to the outstanding technical vision of Lluís Sala and developed through the collective work of many professionals— is an excellent example of how applied innovation can contribute to building the water systems of the future.
“The 2021-2025 drought episode tested the robustness of water supply systems, especially those most dependent on surface resources and aquifers under structural pressure”
