The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, led by Teresa Ribera, defends in its balance of 2021 that the lagoon has made “the largest investment in environmental restoration planned in a specific natural environment in the entire national territory.”
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) took stock of its management during the second half of the year, in which it indicates having maintained the focus on the transformation and structural improvement of the electrical system, and on the correction of the imbalances that affect consumers and users, especially the most vulnerable.
In relation to the Mar Menor, from the ministry chaired by Teresa Ribera, they point out that “in the face of the serious crisis that the lagoon is going through, the last manifestation of which was the episode of fauna mortality in August as a consequence of a new peak of contamination due to excess nutrients discharged into the lagoon, Miteco has developed a comprehensive Framework of Specific Priority Actions (Mapmm), with the aim of addressing and intervening in the main cause of the problem that has motivated the state of eutrophication of the ecosystem ”. The Mapmm was presented in Murcia by the vice president last November and has a budget of 382 million euros to be executed between 2022 and 2026. It is “the largest investment in environmental restoration planned in a specific natural environment in the entire national territory », They defend.
In addition, as indicated by the central government, at the end of November the Council of Ministers declared the works for the protection and environmental recovery of the Mar Menor included in the Framework of general interest of the State. This consideration allows the most urgent actions to be started immediately within the general approach. Most of these measures are aimed at improving the response to the risk of flooding, eliminating the direct effects and seeking a buffer or shock absorbing effect, as well as a naturalization of the immediate surroundings of the lagoon.
“The Mar Menor cannot continue to receive attacks and the declaration of general interest enables action without delay, coordinated and according to the principles that all lagoon restoration and the application of nature-based solutions must follow,” Ribera recalled.
In parallel, the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS) intensified efforts to act against the 8,500 hectares of illegal irrigation identified in the Mar Menor watershed. In order to reestablish legality, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and processed in different phases for more than 7,300 Ha, for not having water rights. In addition, 248 files affecting 3,722 hectares have been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Superior Court of Justice and 101 warnings of subsidiary execution have been sent for sealing and disconnection, for a total of 1,244.38 hectares. It has made progress in the regulations that will allow greater control of the main pressures that influence the state of the Mar Menor lagoon and it is also working intensively on the protection of the coastline.
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