MADRID (AFP) — The Spanish government said Friday it has cancelled a 180-million-euro (280-million-dollar) scheme to channel water from the river Ebro to the Barcelona region, after heavy rains eased drought fears.
Deputy premier Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the government decided the scheme was "no longer necessary."
Under the scheme announced in April, an existing pipeline that channels water from the Ebro to the city of Tarragona was to be extended up to Barcelona, capital of the north-eastern region of Catalonia.
But heavy rains across Spain last month replenished reservoirs and reduced the risk of a drought that had threatened several regions.
The government said on Tuesday reservoirs in Catalonia were up to 47 percent of capacity from 19 percent in mid-April, clsoe to the level at which the water cannot be used as it would have too much sediment.
The regional Catalan government Tuesday also announced it had withdrawn restrictions on the use of water for gardens and swimming pools.
It further said it would not renew a scheme under which it received fresh water supplies by boat from other parts of Spain and neighbouring France, when the contract expires in August.
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