The spokesman for the monitoring committee of the salty lagoon confirms that the eutrophication process has begun and warns that “it is better not to go”
The Mar Menor continues to emit alarming signals that predict the worst scenario for this summer. “Maybe we are not going to go,” the spokesman for the salt lagoon monitoring committee, Emilio María Dolores, warns resignedly, who appeared after the meeting of this body on Tuesday.
Dolores reported that in recent days three pockets of hypoxia have been seen in some points of the ecosystem, which reveal low oxygen values and are a consequence of the putrefaction of algae. Although it does not reach the level of anoxia (total lack of oxygen, which causes the massive mortality of fish), it is a signal that the Mar Menor emits that its state of health is not good.
In this sense, the Community has devised a project, promoted by the Ecology and Coastal working group, to oxygenate the water of the salty lagoon. Everything is ready to carry out a test, which would consist of introducing microbubbles through pipes to have a saving effect in areas with low oxygen levels.
The trial would be carried out at the La Isleta yacht club, on a 6-hectare surface that would affect 150,000 cubic meters of water. The only thing missing is the authorization of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The intention of the Community is to launch it as soon as possible.
On the other hand, the Mar Menor is these days full of a type of algae known as ‘angel hair’ that proliferates when there are high concentrations of nitrates. Up to 2,400 tons of algae have been collected, “which exceeds the worst case scenario,” admitted Emilio María Dolores.
In addition, the average temperature of the water is already 18 degrees, and everything indicates that it will continue to grow. Turbidity has dropped while chlorophyll already reaches 2.6 mg/l in some areas, “which means that the eutrophication process (green soup) has already begun,” the spokesman said. On the other hand, “very low” salinity levels can have dire consequences for the ecosystem, mainly for nacra.
“A tremendous amount” of water by the Rambla del Albujón
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Mar Menor monitoring committee reported the “very high” water inflows into the lagoon. Especially through the Rambla del Albujón, where on Tuesday morning, at 7:50 a.m., 653 liters per second of water with a large amount of nitrates and phosphates circulated, “a tremendous amount”. Between January 1, 2022 and this Tuesday, May 3, it is estimated that the Rambla del Albujón has contributed 5.1 cubic hectometres, “five times more than in the same period last year.”
Regarding the aquifer, Emilio María Dolores affirmed that in the metering station of a farm that the UMU has in La Palma (Cartagena), the water table is -7 (you have to dig 7 meters to find water) when five years ago it was -17.
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