Everybody's talking about the drought and the possible measures that might be taken to palliate it. It's a big enough deal that La Vanguardia has a front-page editorial saying that something needs to be done; also, so much spouting off is already being done that rumors are beginning to fly. Somebody reported yesterday that reservoir capacity was already below 20%, which it isn't, at least not yet, but everybody panicked temporarily.

La Vangua's editorial points out that the Valencians are having fun criticizing the Catalan government for the plan to send Segre-Ebro River water to Barcelona, since Catalonia had fought so hard against Ebro water being sent to Valencia. Lleida province is indignant, too, at losing water to the city slickers in Can Fanga, and the Lleida PSC is in open revolt against Montilla (who wants to grab all water possible for Barcelona) and in line with Zapatero in Madrid (who has at least temporarily blocked the Segre transfer). La Vangua blames the Pujol administration for doing almost nothing about water supplies during its 23 years in power, but adds that everyone in both Catalan and Spanish politics is guilty. Funny: I don't remember La Vangua making too much noise about this issue before, either.

Right now there are several proposals being floated: the Segre-Llobregat aqueduct, an aqueduct connecting the Urgell irrigation canal with the Anoia River, an aqueduct bringing Ebro water straight to Barcelona, opening up old wells in the Baix Llobregat, and bringing water by ship from wells in the Tarragona plain, from the Rhone in Marseilles, and from the Almeria desalinizing plant. Desalinizing plants are currently being built at El Prat, Cunit, and Blanes, to come on line between 2009 and 2012.

Statistics: Residents of Peking use 670 liters of water a day, New York 500, Tokyo 320, Havana 270, Paris 160, Cairo 150, and Barcelona 110. Jeez. We're even dirtier than the French. That fetid cloud you see rising up over the city ain't just carbon monoxide from Seat tailpipes.