Spain will invest 467 million euros ($502 million) in two desalination plants on the Catalan coast as the northeastern region grapples with a three-year drought.
The plants will be built north and south of Barcelona, Spain's second largest city, and will have annual capacity to treat 80 million cubic meters (21 billion gallons), the Environment Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The plants will start operating in 2028 and 2029, the statement said.
"The government's commitment is to do everything possible to help wherever needed to guarantee drinkable water," Environment Minister Teresa Ribera told a news conference in Barcelona.
Catalonia's reservoirs are currently at 16% of capacity at a time of the year when rainfall would normally fill them up. Local authorities have established limits on water use for residents to mitigate against the drought.
Ribera said the government and local water utilities would ship by sea as much as 40,000 cubic meters of desalinated water a day from a plant located in Sagunto, in the Valencia region.
($1 = 0.9299 euros)
