The National Water Council, the Government’s advisory body on this matter in which the General State Administration, the Autonomous Communities, social and economic agents, experts, ecologists, users and Water Councils of the Basins are represented, is meeting today in Madrid to analyse various legislative initiatives on which the Ministry of the Environment is working to guarantee and improve the quality and supply of water resources.

These initiatives will facilitate the execution of the actions of the A.G.U.A. Programme (Actions for the Management and Use of Water), which materialises the reorientation of water policy, through specific actions designed to guarantee the availability and quality of water in each territory.

This draft Royal Decree complies with the requirements of Law 11/2005, of 22 June, on the National Hydrological Plan, which states that it is the Government that must establish the basic conditions for the reuse of water, specifying the quality required of the treated water according to the intended uses. In addition, it states that the holder of the concession or authorisation must bear the necessary costs to adapt the reuse of water to the quality requirements in force at all times. The legislative change also requires adapting the articles of the Hydraulic Public Domain Regulation dedicated to reuse.

This project, in accordance with the objectives of the A.G.U.A. Programme (Actions for the Management and Use of Water) of the Ministry of the Environment, allows the development of a new water policy based on a more modern and efficient management of resources.