Sevillians over 40 years of age still remember how in 1981 they changed the schedules in schools so that they could leave earlier to take a shower and their families accumulated buckets of water in the morning.Between the months of February and November of that year, the cuts were extended until reaching 5:00 p.m. without supply.There was only water from seven in the morning to two in the afternoon.A measure that was repeated a decade later —when at the end of 1995 an evacuation plan for the population was even considered— and for one day it did not have to be adopted again in 2000, because it started to rain.Seville has learned from its past and in this new cycle without rainfall and with reservoirs almost at the same level as then, supply suspensions are not expected.Investment in improving networks to prevent water leaks and losses, and the Objective 90 initiative, which seeks to raise awareness among the population, companies and main sectors of the capital to reduce average consumption per person, together with the digitization of control of the quantity and quality of water resources, have driven away the ghosts of a past that is not forgotten.The situation with everything is worrying.The six reservoirs that supply the capital and its metropolitan area —1.4 million inhabitants— are below 45%."There are 260 cubic hectometers left," explains Jaime Palop, CEO of Emasesa, the public water company that supplies most of Seville and the surrounding municipalities (1.2 million residents), together with Aljjarafesa."We would have enough water for a year and a half," he warns.This circumstance has led Seville to decree a drought alert situation this week, one more step —the penultimate before the emergency— within the Drought Situation Emergency Plan designed by Emasesa.In the capital and the 11 municipalities that the company supplies, the use of drinking water for watering gardens, washing streets, filling swimming pools and ornamental fountains, fountains for human consumption is prohibited if they do not have automatic elements of closure, washing with a hose of vehicles or air conditioners that do not have a closed circuit."The situation is worrying, but not alarming because we have done our homework," says the mayor of the Andalusian capital, Antonio Muñoz (PSOE).The hydrographic basin that supplies the metropolitan area of ​​Seville does not allow the creation of new reservoirs, so the council decided to go for the route of reducing water consumption.In the first quarter of 2022, after verifying that in the last four hydrological years it had rained below average, it launched the Objective 90 initiative to make the population aware of the importance of reducing water use and moving from 116 liters per person —above average consumption— at 90 litres."Before, each drought was solved with the construction of a reservoir, but that is now impossible, that is why our priority is to encourage savings," says Muñoz.From March to October, consumption has been reduced by 3%, going from 116 to 112.5 liters per person per day.In this achievement, the involvement of the most relevant sectors of Seville has also been important, such as the hotels, catering and trade sectors, the college of property managers, consumer associations and large companies located in the capital, which They are large water consumers, who signed a collaboration agreement with the City Council in June to implement the recommendations for reducing water use and to whom Emasesa provides support and advice in case of doubts.“In hotels we have quite internalized the control of water consumption in our kitchens and internal operations, but we do not know the habits of the client, so we have filled the rooms with stickers and indications, reminding them of good practices to reduce spending, such as turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving… They may seem silly, but the savings are immense”, says Manuel Cornax, president of the Seville and Province Hotel Association.The drought of 1992 also left the sector marked by fire.Cornax recalls that mechanisms such as the double discharge of cisterns and other systems to increase savings began to be installed in Sevillian hotels."What matters to us is not throwing away the water," he says.Heineken, Cruzcampo's parent company, is another of the large companies that have also joined the Objective 90 program. The manufacturer uses 3.29 liters of water to make one liter of beer.The company, in addition to committing to apply what was signed in the agreement with the City Council, which includes, among other measures, the adoption of water-saving devices, the reduction of average daily consumption or promoting training and advice for its employees on of saving systems, it also has its own commitments and water projects, such as the recycling of 1.8 liters of the 3.29 used in the production of beers or the Doñana Project, together with the Junta de Andalucía, the Hydrographic Confederation of Guadalquivir and Seo/Birdlife, for the restoration and recovery of some of the lagoons in the national park.With Objetvo 90 and investments in the supply network to reduce water leaks, consumption has been reduced by 3%, but, as Emasesa's CEO acknowledges: "Now comes the most difficult part", which is to go from 112.5 liters per person at 90, a 23% for which awareness alone is not going to be enough.More efforts are going to be needed that go through the digitization of the urban water cycle.This strategy began this September with the installation of digital meters in homes and companies in Seville,"With this system we can know the habits and customs of our users, we can detect if a family is consuming more at night because the toilets leak water or tell another that they have a margin to reduce spending on their morning toilet," explains Pons. .The City Council is working with the Pablo de Olavide University on a study to monitor water consumption in 200 homes 24 hours a day.The objective is to know the evolution and trends in its use.With the conclusions, a manual will be drawn up to provide information to families to improve their habits.Work is also being done on an application that will allow users to interconnect directly with Emasesa to solve their doubts.At Emasesa we work with the premise that droughts are managed with water and its saving is the main tool, a philosophy applauded by environmentalists.“We have to be more efficient and with the same amount or less than before, offer the same service to families and companies, so that they maintain the same hygiene guidelines, so that companies like Heineken can continue selling tourists and so that hotels continue to receive tourists”, emphasizes Pons.The prolonged droughts of the 1980s and 1990s have instilled in Seville "the culture of saving water", as its mayor recalls.In 1995, in addition to planning a possible evacuation of the population, they even thought of towing an iceberg to the Guadalquivir basin.30 years later, the city seems to have learned its lesson and will not have to see, according to those responsible, that its taps run dry.Public awareness also helps.There is 23% left to reach the goal of 90 liters of water."That margin would guarantee us a water reserve for two more years," Pons translates.A challenge that entails a greater one: urban water management to be effective and prevent the effects of future droughts.She editor-in-chief in Andalusia.She has developed her professional career in the newspaper as head of the print edition and content and digital production.She was part of the Washington correspondent and has been in the Spain and Sports sections.She has a degree in Law from Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI- ICADE and a Master's degree from EL PAÍS.Or subscribe to read without limitsSubscribe and read without limits