"Climb down the stony banks of the massive Sau reservoir in the mountains above Barcelona and you get a real sense of why this famous city is so short of water that it's resorted to bringing in emergency supplies - by ship.
Nestling in a deep valley of stunning cliffs and forests, this vital source of water has sunk so low it's exposed the eerie sight of a medieval village that was flooded when the reservoir was opened in the 1960s.
The huddle of ancient stone buildings, including a church with its spire, has now re-emerged into the light and stands as a potent symbol of the severity of this water crisis.
In a year that so far ranks as Spain's driest since records began 60 years ago, the reservoir is currently holding as little as 18% of its capacity - at a time of year when winter rains would usually have provided an essential boost by now.
Rainfall figures show a consistent series of shortfalls in recent years - just as Barcelona's population has expanded to more than five million and the region's booming agribusinesses demand ever more irrigation."
You can probably guess the rest... On 7 June The Guardian reports in a piece entitled "Expo2008: Rain in Spain causes Zaragoza to complain" that:
"After months of the worst drought for 60 years, Spain has experienced the wettest May since 1971; it rained on 18 days of the month. Heavy rains have continued into June, which is rare during the Spanish summer.
In the Basque country, villagers had to be evacuated after rivers burst their banks. In Catalonia, the worst affected area, reservoirs whose levels had been reduced to only 20% are now nearly half full. Last month, Barcelona suffered the embarrassment of having to ship in water from France and other parts of Spain at a cost of €66m (£53m).
...
Angel Rivera, of the Spanish national meteorological institute, said the drought was caused by exceptionally low rainfall between November and April, "but May has been the wettest since 1971"."
This reminds me of my post last August that the Guardian was so definite in the Summer of 2006 that:
"scientists know a lot about how events will unfold...which means that whatever we do, our climate destiny is fixed for the next few decades...Rainfall will decline in the summer and the increased deluges in winter will struggle to replenish thirsty reservoirs because much of the water will run off the baked ground."
Only for the Times to report in August 2007:
"Britain is facing a flooding timebomb this autumn and winter, with huge amounts of underground water stored up by incessant summer rain ready to burst out as floods the next time heavy rains return." and "The Environment Agency is giving warning of “an enhanced flood risk” for England and Wales, although where and when any flooding strikes will depend on the weather patterns. Forecasters are predicting a wet autumn across much of Britain."
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