JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following Law.

Article 10 of the Royal Decree-Law, 3/1992, of 22 May, adopting urgent measures to repair the effects produced by the drought, declared in the general interest, among others, the works of water supply in the the area of the bay of Palma de Mallorca.

Currently, the works for the conduction of water from the Rain-Wall aquifer to the area mentioned and in preparation for the construction of the desalinatory plant of the bay of Palma and the water driving from Sa Costera-Soller to the same area.

There is no doubt that the putting into service of these works will solve the problems of supply that the environment of the bay of Palma de Mallorca presents, but at this moment the situation, which in normal hydrological circumstances The problem is that it has become very serious because of the prolonged drought. The state of the water reserves at the present moment makes it fear that in the very short term the demand for water for the supply of populations in that area will not be able to be adequately covered.

The situation described and the circumstances of extraordinary and urgent need for it, make it necessary to adopt, in an immediate way, special measures to alleviate the current serious insufficiency of water supply up to the moment when the situation of the reserves improves, either due to the modification of the hydrological circumstances or, if this does not occur, by the entry into service in the future of the programmed works. And the instrument necessary for the articulation of these measures must take the form of Royal Decree-Law, not only because of the concurrence of the circumstances of extraordinary and urgent need that Article 86 of the Constitution requires. Spanish, but because the adoption of these measures affects and modifies the provisions of Law 18/1981, of 1 July, on actions in the field of water in Tarragona.

The solution, although of course limited in time, that best meets the requirements of feasibility and guarantee regarding the quantity and quality of the necessary flows, is the use of water from the flow rates. recovered in the systems of the Ebro river delta, as provided for in Law 18/1981, which have not yet been granted to the Consorcio de Aguas de Tarragona, conducted and powered through the facilities at the disposal of the aforementioned Consortium and subsequently transported to the island of Mallorca by sea.

In order to make the use of these flows effective, certain works in Tarragona and Mallorca will have to be implemented as an emergency, under the conditions agreed in the collaboration agreement between the then Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism and the Generality of Catalonia in the field of hydraulic works on December 27, 1985, in the case of Tarragona, and in the agreements signed between the then Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism and the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands in the field of water works on 28 October 1986; and between the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment and the Autonomous Community itself, on actions for the supply of water to the populations of the environment of the bay of Palma de Mallorca and other areas, on 26 March 1994, in the case of Mallorca.

Article 1.

1. The use of water from the catchment facilities established in compliance with the provisions of Law 18/1981 of 1 July on action in the field of water in Tarragona is authorized, with a view to the supply of the population centres located in the surroundings of the bay of Palma de Mallorca, on the island of Mallorca.

2. The maximum annual volume of water to be derived for this use is set at ten hectolitres, with the maximum limit of thirty-five thousand cubic meters per day. The flows authorized in this Law will in any case be additional to those already granted to the Consortium of Aguas de Tarragona in accordance with the provisions of Law 18/1981, without in any case the sum of both flows can exceed the moment of four cubic meters per second, and without the flow to derive to the island of Mallorca can affect the conditions and terms of the concession from which the Consortium of Aguas de Tarragona currently holds, or may be in the future.

3. The time limit for this authorisation shall be 31 December 1998.

Article 2.

The flow rates authorized in the previous article should be used exclusively for the purposes and territorial scope determined in this Law.

Article 3.

1. The flow rates used shall be subject to the payment by the recipient of the same of the high supply rate fixed and in force for the Water Consortium of Tarragona, without counting on their amount the bonuses or surcharges on the same they are currently applicable or may be established in the future by the Generality of Catalonia for the municipalities located in the territory of that autonomous community. In any event, this fee shall include the amount of the fee and increase of the fee for the shared use of existing facilities specified in Article 3 (1) and (3) of Law 18/1981. This fee shall apply to the purposes set out in paragraph 2 of that Article and its management shall be carried out by the body which currently carries it out.

2. All the costs incurred in the transport by sea of the waters destined for the supply of the stocks of the bay of Palma de Mallorca referred to in this Law shall be borne by the entities benefiting from that supply.

Article 4.

1. The works necessary to make effective the derivation of flows and supply of populations authorized by this Law will have the consideration of emergency works, for the purposes provided for in Article 27 of the articulated text of the Law of State contracts, approved by Decree 932/1965 of 8 April. Its financing will be carried out from the budgets of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment. These works will apply to them as set out in article 106 of Law 29/1985 of 2 August, of Aguas, and in the articles 296 and following of the Regulation of the Public Hydraulic Domain, approved by Royal Decree 849/1986 of 11 April.

2. The execution of these works is declared to be of public utility for the purposes provided for in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the Compulsory Expropriation Act of 16 December 1954.

3. The works necessary for the execution of the provisions of this Law shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the agreements of collaboration that are applicable, already signed or that are signed in the future, between the Ministry of Works Public, Transport and the Environment and the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

Additional disposition first.

It will be up to the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the control of regulated water shunt in this Law.

Additional provision second.

The period of authorisation provided for in Article 1 (3) is conditional on the final entry into service of the desalinatory plant in the bay of Palma de Mallorca and the transfer of water from Sa Coastal and Soller to the bay of Palma de Mallorca. In such circumstances, the authorisation shall expire 30 days after the entry into service of those infrastructures.

Additional provision third.

The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment in the field of its competences will establish the port rates applicable to the transport of water for the supply of the populations of the urban nuclei of the Bay of Palma de Mallorca.

Final disposition first.

The Minister of Public Works, Transport and the Environment is authorised to dictate, in the field of their competences, the detailed rules for the operation of the system of derivation and supply established in this Law.

Final disposition second.

This Law shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of the State.

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities to keep and keep this Law.

Madrid, 19 December 1994.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

FELIPE GONZÁLEZ MARQUEZ