“Water is not only the substance that gives meaning to life, it is also the vital element to sustain our nature, culture and gastronomy.”.
Under this premise and in response to the water scarcity situation affecting the Castellón region, the Castellón City Council and Facsa The 'The Value of Water' campaign was launched this Friday. This is another initiative within the city council's ongoing efforts to combat the drought. Present at the launch were the Councilor for Infrastructure and Urban Services, Sergio Toledo, accompanied by the president of Facsa, Enrique Gimeno; Councilor Elena Llopis; the director of the water supply area, Pascual Maximino; and the area coordinator, Patricia Agrasar. Also in attendance were Cristóbal Badenes and Inés Beltrán from the City Council's Urban Services technical department.
Moving away from the traditional images of dry land and the usual advice on how to save water, the city council and the concessionary company Facsa, which is the Spanish private company with the most years of experience in the integrated water cycle, have decided to go a step further and launch a proposal with a differential approach that highlights the deep connection of water with the identity of the territory.
The Councillor for Infrastructure and Urban Services, Sergio Toledo, stated: “The water shortage is forcing many municipalities to adopt extremely urgent measures to guarantee the water supply. While our city is not currently experiencing an emergency, we are at a pre-emergency level, so we must insist on implementing these actions, as outlined in our Emergency Plan for Drought Situations,” Toledo explained.
In this sense, the main objective of this campaign is for the people of Castellón and its visitors to be truly aware that water is the central axis of social well-being and that it is needed for everything: from local crops and the best flavors of the Mediterranean, to natural landscapes, and including sectors of activity as important as ceramics.
As the company points out, “there is an intrinsic human tendency to protect what we consider ours. For this reason, with this campaign, we highlight the importance of water as a vital element that sustains the culture, gastronomy, traditions, and nature of Castellón, because nothing defines our way of life better than that.” “Without water, it wouldn't be possible to enjoy the natural treasures surrounding the city of Castellón, nor could we prepare dishes so characteristic of our exceptional cuisine, such as paella,” they explain.
Awareness and outreach to address drought
This campaign comes at a crucial time of widespread water scarcity in the province of Castellón.
It's worth noting that the city of Castellón definitively approved the Emergency Plan for Drought Situations in the Municipal Urban Water Supply System (PEM) in February 2024. "This plan is a fundamental tool for managing the urban water supply system during droughts and allows the City Council to implement water-saving measures," Toledo explains.
Last March, the Júcar River Basin Authority (CHJ) declared a state of emergency due to an extraordinary drought throughout the entire Júcar River Basin District. “This entails strengthening communication efforts with the public and activating management measures aimed at conservation, saving, and mobilizing alternative resources, which is what we have been working on for months to address this situation without harming the public,” Toledo emphasized.
‘'To remain who we are, let's take care of the water'’
‘'To remain who we are, let's take care of the water' is the main idea around which this campaign revolves, which appeals directly to people's identity, emphasizes their pride of belonging and seeks to reinforce the will to protect what is important to them through water.
This initiative is aimed primarily at the citizens of Castellón, but also at tourists visiting Castellón during their holidays, so that they make responsible use of the resource and are aware of the water scarcity situation the city is experiencing.
The campaign, which will be visible over the next few months on different media platforms and City Council channels, consists of a generic commercial, posters, radio spots and other materials. adapted to social media under the hashtag #Cuidemoselagua.
This initiative, promoted by the City Council of the capital of La Plana, moves away from the traditional scenes commonly used in drought campaigns to build a different value in people's minds by associating water with fundamental aspects of their identity, culture and way of life.
Finally, the councilor for the area, Sergio Toledo, reviewed other actions that have been carried out by the council to combat the drought, such as carrying out an exhaustive monitoring of the state of drought by all the agents involved, which analyzes the evolution and proposes the execution of the necessary measures according to the development of the situation.
In addition, system monitoring has been increased, especially regarding water consumption. Currently, around 50% meters in the water meter network are already remotely read, allowing for greater system control and faster leak detection, and the replacement of another 10,000 meters is planned for 2024.
The Castellón City Council also promotes alternative water sources for uses other than drinking water supply, such as watering green spaces and cleaning streets. In this regard, it is worth noting that the Castellón City Council:
- It uses second-quality wells, unsuitable for water supply, such as the Auditorium Well and the Mérida Park Well, for watering gardens and washing streets.
- It uses reclaimed water from the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for the irrigation of parks and gardens.
Currently, an area of 20% of the municipality's green areas is being irrigated with reclaimed water.
Likewise, the Regenerated Water Master Plan of Castellón de la Plana was approved in the Plenary session in May, which defines the strategy to promote the reuse of water associated with urban uses, as urged by the consolidated text of the Water Law in its Art. 109.
