Rise in the reservoirs: reserves grow 5.3 points in just one week and part of the south of the peninsula begins to see the light

The recent rains, especially those of this Holy Week, have been an important boost of oxygen for many areas of the country cornered by drought. In just one week, according to data provided this Tuesday by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the reservoir of dammed water in peninsular Spain has increased by 2,968 cubic hectometers (hm³). A couple of figures can help gauge the dimension of this growth: the entire annual consumption of fresh water for industrial uses in the country is around 1,100 hm³; and the annual urban supply amounts to 5,000 hm³.

The peninsular hydraulic reserve is at 63.13% of its total capacity, according to the data collected in the weekly Hydrological Bulletin updated this Tuesday. This represents an increase in dammed water of 5.3 percentage points in just seven days. Overall, the situation is much better than last year for this same week of the year, when the reserve was at 51.53%, 11.6 points less than now. And normality is already approaching, if the average amount of dammed water over the last 10 years is taken as a reference point. For this week of the year, the average is 35,526 cubic hectometers, and now it is 35,375. However, it must be taken into account that in the last decade there have been two significant periods of drought, which has reduced this average significantly. Furthermore, there are areas, such as Catalonia, where the situation continues to be truly worrying.

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, shares the joy of the “respite” that these rains have brought, but also warns that he cannot separate the Administrations from the path of savings, efficiency and greater use of reuse. . “In some hydrographic basins we have been managing drought for almost six years,” warns Morán. “The impacts of climate change are here to stay,” he adds.

But in the very short term the news is good. Because “the rainfall has considerably affected the entire Peninsula,” the ministry explained this Tuesday. And in many cases it has been above normal in the last week. In addition, the production of hydroelectric energy between March 25 and March 31 was 1,089 gigawatt hours, which “represents 196.8% of that produced in the same period of the previous year.” This has contributed to very low, even negative, electricity prices in Spain.

The rainfall has been especially beneficial for the south of the Peninsula, where the drought that has been going on for many months had already led to significant cuts in the use of water for agriculture and also in cities and towns. And what was coming was even worse; For example, having to resort to tanker ships this summer to supply some Andalusian cities, something that the Andalusian Government has already openly ruled out thanks to the latest rainfall. Although we cannot speak of normality, the progression is positive.

“The Holy Week that has just ended will be remembered for the rains, which have been abundant in points on the Atlantic side of the peninsula and the Aragonese Pyrenees,” explains Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). The meteorologist highlighted the 478 liters per square meter collected during the week in Grazalema, in Cádiz, or the 274 liters in the town of Cardeña, in Córdoba.

Precisely the most striking case is that of the Guadalquivir basin, where the reservoir of dammed water has increased by 12.6 percentage points in just one week: the fifty swamps in this basin are at 42.9% after these abundant rainfalls. It represents more than 17 points and around 1,400 cubic hectometers more than a year ago; although the basin is still 12 percentage points below the average of the last decade.

In addition, the intra-community basins whose management depends on the Junta de Andalucía have also increased their reserves in the last seven days: the Andalusian Mediterranean is at 26.9% of its capacity (although still well below normal); The Guadalete-Barbate demarcation is at 27.2% (almost the same as a year ago) and that of Tinto-Odiel-Piedras-Chanza has increased to 84.3%, even above the average of the last decade . These reserves will increase with runoff.

This improvement has allowed the Board to definitively park the arrival of ships to the ports of Carboneras (Almería), Málaga and Algeciras (Cádiz) to supply water during the summer months to these provinces. It was planned that the measure, the cost of which was shared with the central government, would be activated if it did not rain between now and the summer. “We are in a position to affirm that this summer it will no longer be necessary to bring boats loaded with water. We are going to continue making the installations in the ports, in the future,” clarified on Monday the president of the Board, Juan Manuel Moreno, who also drew attention to the fact that in the Mediterranean basin, where rainfall has been lower, ” “The problem is not resolved.”

Luis Babiano, manager of the Spanish Association of Public Supply and Sanitation Operators (AEOPAS), also warns about the fact that, despite the general increase in basins, provinces like Malaga are still in “water deficit.” Babiano advocates that planning measures not be abandoned. “Málaga is ground zero, when it is said that it will have to be supplied with ships that indicates absolute precariousness,” he points out. “We have not emerged from a precarious situation in the urban area,” he adds, extending his concern to the entire community. The AEOPAS manager recommends continuing with citizen awareness campaigns on water consumption, implementing measures for the use of gray water in the construction of new hotels and touri
st apartments, as has begun to be done in some municipalities in Catalonia, and to extend the reuse of water.

Within the general portrait, there are striking cases such as some Andalusian reservoirs that were practically without water just a few days ago and that have experienced spectacular filling. This is the case of the Sierra Boyera reservoir, in the north of the province of Córdoba, which is now at 70% and which a couple of weeks ago was practically dry, which prevented around 80,000 residents from being able to drink from the tap for 11 months. due to the poor state of the waters. “We are doing analysis and, if everything is positive, those people will have water 24 hours a day,” the Andalusian president announced on Monday.

But not only the Guadalquivir basin has seen reserves increase in the last week. In Guadiana, where there were also several areas in alert and emergency situations due to drought, many of its reservoirs have been filled. The reserve is now at 48.7%, 8.7 percentage points more than seven days ago and 14 more than in the same week last year. In the case of the Segura basin, the reservoirs are at 22.8%, only 1.8 points more than a week ago.

The cross continues to be Catalonia, where the recent rains have had a positive effect, but not as much as in the south of the peninsula. The reservoirs in the internal Catalan basins, which in many cases are in an emergency situation, are at 16.4% this week. In the last seven days the reserve has increased by 0.9 points. But it is still light years from normality. For this same week of the year, the average reservation for the last decade is 73.3%. “The problem,” adds Morán, “continues to be centered on three intra-community hydrographic demarcations,” that is, they are under autonomous jurisdiction: the internal Catalan basins, the Andalusian basins and the Guadalete basin.

meteorological drought

When talking about drought, several types are usually differentiated. For example, the term hydrological drought refers precisely to the water reserves that accumulate in reservoirs and underground aquifers. And this type is closely linked to the so-called meteorological drought, that is, the deficit in precipitation.

Rubén del Campo, from Aemet, explained this Tuesday that, based on the rainfall of the last 12 months, “the basins of the western peninsula have managed to emerge from the meteorological drought.” But this is not the case in the basins of southern Andalusia, Segura, Júcar, and the Eastern Pyrenees, which encompasses a good part of Catalonia. If the focus is expanded, taking into account the rains of the last three years, Del Campo advises not to “let our guard down” because the Duero, Guadiana, Guadalquivir, southern Andalusia, Ebro basins are still in a situation of long-term drought. and a good part of Catalonia. “In summary, we can consider that there has been a temporary relief from the drought in the west of the Peninsula, thanks to the latest rains, although considering the long term, the long-lasting drought has not yet been overcome in many basins,” he said. stated the Aemet spokesperson.

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