The URA agency presented the new water sanitation project for Oikia last June, also opening the period for public opinion. According to the environmental group Eguzki, this is the third project designed to channel Oikia's waters to the Zumaia treatment plant, and it is linked to the controversy surrounding the water quality of the Zumaia river.
A year ago, the Department of Health prohibited bathing in the Urola estuary due to insufficient water quality. Eguzki states that the agency itself acknowledges that Oikia's wastewater "significantly" pollutes the Urola, and the project aims to divert this pollution to the Basusta treatment plant.
The environmental group recalls that the project presented in June is the third related to Oikia's water sanitation. Eguzki considers bringing the sanitation issue back to the table "good news" and highlights that the project comes updated. This time, in addition to the wastewater from the industrial estates of Oikia and Xey, it also aims to channel wastewater from Aizarnazabal to the treatment plant.
However, the environmentalists also see a "dark side" as these works "continue to accumulate disproportionate delays." They explain that this year's project is based on another from 2021, which in turn was based on one from 2010. "Institutions signed an agreement in 2007 to carry out various hydraulic works in Gipuzkoa; according to that agreement, Oikia's sanitation should have been operational by 2011. We are now in 2026, and we are still dealing with the project," they denounce.
