The PM for the Junta did not beat about the bush when he said that if we don't get 30-days of continuous rain, then Andalucía is in big trouble this summer.
In other words unless we get about a month of rain then big cities within the region will be facing water restrictions come July through to September.
He made this declaration at the Palacio de San Telmo (the seat of Junta de Andalucía) at a meeting with the Committee of Experts, formed to deal with the drought because reserves in our reservoirs stand on average at only 20% of their capacity.
The figures for provinces in eastern Andalucia are worse, where the average is only 10%
The committee advised him that he should take two steps: call upon the population to be aware of the situation and to use water frugally; call upon all public administrations to understand that water availability cannot become a political battleground and for all of them to pull together.
Although this second call concerning administrations included at the Central Government which controls two-thirds of the Andalucía’s river basins, it was especially aimed at municipal town councils, making the drought a top priority and focusing their attention on infrastructure that is not visible; i.e., underground pipes where leaks abound.
He also announced that on the 29th of this month the Consejo de Gobierno de La Junta (Governing Board) would issue a new drought decree (the fourth that he has issued) to authorise an outlay of 200m euros — the biggest one to date, bringing the total sum to 300m euros for counter-drought measures.
A good part of this (50m euros) will go to the ‘primary sector,’ which is to say agriculture, which is the sector that is hurting the most. He warned that if agriculture suffers it has a knock-on affect with the rest of the economy.
Another large part will go towards working with Provincial Councils on emergency work for water supply, water recycling, wells and eliminating water waste through faulty underground pipelines.
Finally, he reminded those present that Andalucia provides agricultural needs for 500 million Europeans.
Editorial comment: Ukraine and Spain are known as the European breadbaskets; with Ukraine all but knocked out, the last thing that Europe needs is for the Spanish wheat exports to falter because of a persistent drought.
(News/Noticias: Andalucia)
Ok so it’s a lack of rain, climate change etc. What doesn’t change is the legal and illegal abuse of water usage to satisfy the subtropical fruits, vegetable and strawberry industries. It’s not your little farmer, as we or I think of it but massive agricultural entities that will continue to suck up water until all we have left are solar farms gained and owned by the big businesses.
Tenant farmers or small ones go bankrupt, so land sold off for a pittance. It’s already happening in other parts of Spain. Yes, I understand that it’s a massive, financial-return market. But no water? No food? Maybe hit the illegal extraction criminals harder. Big fines and or jail. Might make them actually pay for their water usage. As to the bribes in the Donas area. Especially ditto for those killing the area. Not rewarding with massive bribes.
Perhaps we should also look at usage at beach areas and pavement/roads washing down. The water future is not bright.