Xàbia Hosts National Assembly of Public Water Operators
Marina Alta strengthens its role as a benchmark in complex urban water management.
Xàbia has hosted the General Assembly of the Asociación Española de Operadores Públicos de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento (AEOPAS) – the Spanish Association of Public Water Supply and Sanitation Operators) – bringing together public water service leaders from across the country and positioning the Marina Alta as a national reference point in the public management of urban water systems under highly complex hydrological conditions.
The event also included participation from Xàbia, Gata de Gorgos, El Poble Nou de Benitatxell, Ondara, Pedreguer and Benissa, municipalities that share an efficient public management model and have placed water services at the heart of their strategic planning. Together, they reflect a countywide commitment to professional, coordinated systems prepared to confront the growing challenges of water security.
Holding the assembly in Xàbia highlights the region’s long-standing forward planning in a territory defined by structural water scarcity and intense seasonal population pressures. In such conditions, guaranteeing supply requires advanced technical solutions, diversified water sources and management focused squarely on long-term resilience.
During the institutional addresses, speakers underlined that water supply and sanitation services are at a pivotal moment. The sector faces the need to strengthen infrastructure resilience, accelerate digital transformation, improve hydraulic efficiency and advance asset management, all within a context marked by increasingly frequent extreme hydrometeorological events that place significant operational demands on systems.
Within this landscape, AEOPAS has consolidated its role as Spain’s main platform for technical cooperation among public operators, enabling the exchange of applied knowledge, the development of shared operational tools and the gradual alignment of management criteria nationwide.
A central focus of the Assembly was the strategic importance of specialized technical training. The association’s training pathways are helping to reinforce operational capacity, ensure generational renewal, retain technical expertise, implement modern risk management approaches and guarantee compliance with drinking water and wastewater quality standards.
This process is decisively strengthening a professionalized public model built on qualified personnel, advanced infrastructure management and data-driven decision-making. Alongside technical training, AEOPAS-led public awareness campaigns are fostering a stronger water culture and making visible the continuous work carried out by public services to safeguard a fundamental right.
For the Marina Alta, hosting the Assembly carries clear strategic significance. It not only recognizes years of sustained effort to secure water supply in a region particularly vulnerable to scarcity, but also projects the county as a reference area in the application of technical solutions such as desalination, long-term planning and efficient resource management.
The gathering also reinforces cooperation between local administrations and public operators at a time when municipalities must address major challenges, including infrastructure renewal, reduction of non-revenue water, energy efficiency and the integration of new technologies.
The Assembly made clear that strengthening the public model depends on building technical capacity, ensuring adequate funding and maintaining stable collaboration frameworks capable of delivering coordinated responses to sector-wide challenges.
With this event, Xàbia and the Marina Alta consolidate their position as a meeting point for technical knowledge and innovation in urban public water management, at a time when these services are essential to sustainable development, social cohesion and territorial resilience.
