For each hectare of irrigation from the Transfer that disappears in the Segura basin, carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere will increase between 5 and 20 tons annually, depending on the type of crop. This information was presented this morning by the professor of the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineering of the UPCT, Victoriano Martínez, who pointed out that the irrigation area of the Trasvase is capable of reducing and sequestering 1.2 million tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of the emissions produced by a population of 160,000 inhabitants.
If the transfer for irrigation is reduced by half, the repercussions will result in the emission of 600,000 tons into the atmosphere by increasing the carbon footprint and reducing the capacity to retain greenhouse gases.
The first data from the UPCT study were presented in April 2021 and now regain importance with the scheduled cut in transfers from the pit, as revealed in the meeting that took place at the headquarters of the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct, which was attended by the Minister of the Environment, Mar Menor, Universities and Research, Juan María Vázquez.
Professor Victoriano Martínez explained that they are updating the data in the report as a result of the impact of the new basin plans, especially that of the Tagus. The study ‘Carbon balance of the irrigated areas of the Tajo-Segura Transfer’, prepared by the José Manuel Claver Valderas Transfer and Sustainability Chair of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, confirms the contribution of the crops irrigated by the Transfer to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, Martínez added.
Loss of thousands of jobs
The president of Scrats, Lucas Jiménez, stressed that in addition to the environmental impact that the loss of irrigation surface would cause, there will be the loss of thousands of jobs in the agricultural sector.
The UPCT report highlights that the crops associated with the aqueduct would go from being an important sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) to becoming a source of emissions, in the event that the canal is closed and transfers from the Tagus are replaced by desalinated water.
According to the report, the irrigation area of the Trasvase is capable of reducing and sequestering 1.2 million tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of the emissions produced by a population of 160,000 inhabitants. If desalination is incorporated, this effect is reduced by 10%; and if there were a total replacement of some flows by others, the capture would drop by 40% and crops, especially horticultural crops, would become a source of emissions when establishing the carbon balance of the entire production cycle, from the farm to the market.
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