www.futurenviro.es | Noviembre-Diciembre November-December 2021 42 Gestión y tratamiento de agua | Water management and treatment Detrás del agua de grifo que permite beber, que nos lavemos las manos, pongamos una lavadora o limpiemos nuestra vivienda, están muchas veces los operadores públicos del agua, que mantienen toda una red de infraestructuras imprescindibles para que el agua de grifo continúe llegando a los hogares con la certeza de que es sana y segura. Sin embargo para realizar nuestro trabajo los operadores públicos nos encontramos con una Ley de Contratos del Sector Público (LCSP) que es una gran barrera para hacer inversiones públicas de forma ágil. Nuestra eficacia está limitada por el marco institucional, no por nuestra capacidad técnica o financiera. O se cambia el marco institucional o directamente haremos realidad la “doctrina del shock” y la actual crisis servirá eliminar a los sectores públicos. Pedimos la supresión de los mecanismos especulativos que existen en el sector del agua, tal como el canon concesional. En un contexto en el que los ayuntamientos necesitandinero para dar auxilio a las personas y/o al entramado empresarial local, etc., el canon, o sea el dinero que el operador privado adelanta a la Alcaldía a cambio de la concesión, permite enjuagar las cuentas y paliar a corto plazo su penuria financiera, pero encarece la tarifa del agua, las infraestructuras se deterioran y el Ayuntamiento pierde el control efectivo sobre el servicio más importante para la salud pública del que son responsable: el agua. Para evitar esta pérdida de los bienes comunes, los gobiernos, deberían adoptar reformas radicales, revirtiendo la dirección política que ha prevalecido en las últimas cuatro décadas. Hasta el propio diario Financial Times, en varios editoriales durante la pandemia, insta a frenar a la especulación, defender abiertamente los valores de lo público y aceptar un papel más activo del Estado en la economía. Reforzar lo público es la única garantía frente a las crisis. De los Gobiernos, uno espera resguardo y sentido común. Actúen. This right implies both the availability of a minimum quantity of water in order to live and the prohibition of cuts in supply for people in conditions of vulnerability. Ultimately, there is a need to introduce legislative initiatives to regulate minimum supplies, within the framework of the recognition of the human right to water. As local authorities are the owners of water supply services and have the competence to regulate these services, the Spanish Association of Public Water Supply and Sanitation Operators (AEOPAS) considers it a priority to determine whether minimum supply requirements can be regulated by means of a state law, without undermining municipal autonomy. As a result, AEOPAS commissioned Eulalio Ávila Cano to undertake a technical legal study on the matter. The report arising from this study can be consulted on the association’s website https:// www.aeopas.org. Let us hope that 2022 will be the year that Spain introduces legislation to safeguard the human right to water. Behind the tap water that allows us to drink, wash our hands, use a washing machine or clean our homes, public water operators are often responsible for maintaining an entire network of essential infrastructures to enable this tap water to be sent to homes in the certainty that it is healthy and safe. However, in the course of our work, public operators are forced to comply with a Public Sector Contracts Act (Ley de Contratos del Sector Público - LCSP), which is a major barrier to making public investments in an agile manner. Our effectiveness is limited by the institutional framework, not by our technical or financial capacity. Either the institutional framework is changed or we will be moving directly towards making the “shock doctrine” a reality and the current crisis will serve to eliminate public sectors. We are calling for the abolition of the speculative mechanisms that exist in the water sector, such as the concession fee. In a context where municipalities need money to provide relief to individuals and/or the local business community, etc., the fee, i.e., the money paid by private operators to the municipalities in exchange for concessions, allows municipalities to balance the books and alleviate their financial difficulties in the short term. However, it results in higher water charges and the deterioration of infrastructures. Moreover, the municipality loses effective control over the most important service associated with public health for which they are responsible: water. To prevent this loss of common property, governments should adopt radical reforms to reverse the prevailing direction of policies in the last four decades. Even the Financial Times, in several editorials during the pandemic, has urged curbing speculation, openly defending public values and accepting a more active role for the state in the economy. Reinforcing the public sector is the only guarantee against crises. From governments, one expects safeguards and common sense. Let us act to make this a reality. Luis Babiano Gerente de AEOPAS (Asociación Española de Operadores Públicos de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento) Director of AEOPAS (Spanish Association of Public Water Supply and Sanitation Operators)
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