Scrats shows examples of the different treatment given by the Ministry to various basins, and detects “surprises” in other sections of the Tagus
The Irrigation Union of the Transfer (Scrats) considers that the Ministry has used a different standard when establishing the ecological flows, since the regimes in other sections and rivers are maintained or reduced, but the proposal on the Alto Tajo, where these flows will increase up to 43% in the coming years. The president of Scrats, Lucas Jiménez, therefore considers that the main objective is to attack the Transfer and denounces the “cruelty” of Minister Teresa Ribera with Levante.
The Scrats shows its “surprise” at the fact that in the Plan del Tajo the flows in the Alagón River are lowered with respect to the initial proposal: upstream they leave them at 31% of what was proposed and downstream they lower them by 50%. The same thing also happens in the section of the Jarama between the Tajuña River and the mouth of the Tagus, in Aranjuez; as well as the outlet of the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs, he indicates. “I guess to meet the demands of tourist recreation” in the area, said Jiménez. Likewise, “the ecological flows have been lowered in general from the Castejón reservoir”, with the aim, according to Jiménez, “of reassuring the political leaders, I imagine, of Castilla-La Mancha”.
The urban demands in the Tagus will only grow 38 hectares, including that of Madrid, and the consumption of its irrigation will decrease
The irrigators also offer data from other basins where they maintain that the flows have been reduced or maintained, such as in three sections of the Guadalquivir (Galapagar stream, Genil river and Guadajoz river). In the demarcation of the Guadiana, they give as an example sections of Badajoz and Puebla de don Rodrigo. In the Duero, the flows in Toro are maintained, while a similar situation occurs in the Mijares river.
The Tagus Plan states that it cannot set by law the surplus water of the headwaters to be transferred to Levante
The same happens with the Ebro as it passes through Zaragoza, where the same water regime remains as in the previous cycle. The most important changes in the Ebro respond to twenty-six allegations presented by companies, irrigators, municipalities, environmentalists and the governments of Aragon, Catalonia and the Basque Country.
The Tajo Plan that will be voted on Tuesday by its Water Council includes the increase in flows from 6 to 8.6 cubic meters per second in Aranjuez, as LA TRUTH advanced, without changes in the allegations phase. This demarcation specifies in its Report that its capacity is limited “to establish the surplus nature of the waters to be transferred”, and for this it refers to two laws of the years 2013 and 2015, one of them the Transfer Memorandum, “which they represented a change of scenery» in the planning of said demarcation». On this basis, the Tajo Plan considers the Transfer “as a water extraction pressure”. In the Rajoy stage, through the Memorandum law, the regulation of the Transfer was transferred to the central government.
Madrid demands
As for future demands, the Plan del Tajo indicates that urban consumption will increase by 38 hectometres per year, including that of the Community of Madrid; while agriculture will decrease its allocation by 69 hectometers mainly due to the improvement that will be required in the efficiency of irrigation. In the 2039 scenario, the total demand increases by an additional 89.5 hm³/year. This growth is fundamentally due to the expected increase in population, especially in Madrid, which will probably require flows from the headwaters of the Tagus.
The plan mentions that there are 50 annual hectares assigned to the Parque de las Tablas de Daimiel; as well as the future endowment to the upper basin of the Guadiana through the ‘Tubería Manchega’, which will be launched shortly, as required by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha. These uses will also be in charge of the headwaters of the Tagus.
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