The water deficit in the Guadalquiv basinir will grow almost 64% until 2039 if additional measures are not taken to those contemplated in the current hydrological planning. Specifically, climate change and the increase in environmental demand will cause the lack of this resource in the next 15 years to go from 218.8 to 358.5 hm3, as revealed by a study prepared by the Association of Irrigation Communities. of Andalusia (Feragua) and San Telmo Business School with official data extracted from the hydrological plans.
The Guadalquivir is already the Andalusian basin most affected by water deficit and the imbalance between supply and demand is expected to continue growing in the medium term due to the limited application potential that complementary resources, such as desalination and regeneration, have in the area.
The reservoirs have started the hydrological year with a 30% reservation, a figure that, although it places the basin in a pre-alert situation due to drought, guarantees drinking water for the next three years without restrictions, but leaves one more year to the field in a compromised situation in which new cuts are not ruled out.
For the first time since there is statistical evidence, the irrigation of the Guadalquivir chain eight years of droughts prolonged and intense periods of scarcity that have caused especially severe restrictions in the last four. Between 2018 and 2022, the irrigators of the General Regulation System were forced to develop their activity with less than half the water that their crops need and in 2023 the normal provision was cut to 12%, leaving a large amount of unplanted area and choosing less demanding crops of water but also less competitive.
In recent months the situation has managed to sustain itself thanks to the emergency works promoted by the central and regional governments to immediately address the problems derived from the drought in the district. However, irrigators warn that the evolution of the water deficit experienced by the Guadalquivir basin could begin to be reversed if the measures were carried out. approved regulatory works in hydrological planning.
The association denounces that the investment deficit in hydraulic works that accumulates Andalusia in the last 15 years is equivalent to an investment of 2000 million euros and remember that none of the three reservoirs approved in the Guadalquivir plan (Regrowth of the Agrio Dam, San Calixto Dam and Cerrada de la Puerta Dam) have begun execution nor have a closed project, so it will still take a long time time to be able to count on them to increase the offer. Thus, they ask that all this accumulated investment be allocated to the construction of ponds and microreservoirsinfrastructures that have a simpler and less time-consuming bidding process. The Andalusian group estimates that with 2,000 million euros it could be launched a plan for 200 new rafts that would allow us to achieve the water balance in the community.
More resources and security of supply
According to Feragua, the regulation ponds would not only guarantee water availability, but also contribute to the increase in resources since they are able to take advantage of runoff when it rains and accumulate surface water, giving the field the capacity to respond in times of scarcity. Likewise, the association points out that the ponds function as transportation infrastructures. energy storagea feature that would help improve the energy efficiency of irrigation systems, optimizing their economic cost. They also serve as turbid water decanting elements that arrive, favoring the operation of filtering equipment and the use of more efficient irrigation systems, such as localized irrigation.
#Andalusian #countryside #asks #ponds #alleviate #water #shortage
