Irrigated fields next to the Mar Menor in a file image. /
The Ministry includes monitoring of the Campo de Cartagena aquifer and irrigation in the Special Surveillance Plan in areas that receive flows from the Tagus
The measures to protect the Campo de Cartagena aquifer and achieve the good state of its waters, which imply restrictions and controls on agricultural and livestock activity in the region, will be checked on a quarterly basis to verify their degree of compliance. These monitoring reports will be incorporated into the Special Program for Surveillance of the masses of water in the area of the Tajo-Segura Transfer, according to the document prepared by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and which will be approved next Tuesday by the National Water Council . As LA VERDAD advanced, Vice President Teresa Ribera has linked the Transfer to the protection measures of Mar Menor, while an important part of the transfers are assigned to irrigation in the Campo de Cartagena.
Quarterly monitoring will be carried out on the precautionary measures imposed by the CHS, which is currently analyzing the thousands of files submitted by farmers and ranchers in the area to prove that they do not contaminate the aquifer. It also includes the development and fulfillment of priority actions in the Mar Menor basin aimed at this same end. There will also be a follow-up of the number of inspections of illegal irrigation and of the corresponding disciplinary proceedings. This is part of the controls that the Ministry will apply to the transfer receiving areas in the Guadiana, Júcar, Segura and Andalusian Mediterranean Basins, although the focus is on the Campo de Cartagena.
The National Water Council is expected to approve the draft of the royal decree of the new hydrological plans, which includes a provision that in principle supposes a balloon of oxygen to the Tajo-Segura Transfer, while the ecological flow of the Tagus will not increase above of 7 cubic meters per second if the environmental objectives are met in 2026. This is accompanied by the Special Surveillance Program in the area of the aqueduct.
Asaja Alicante points out that the agreement between the Consell and the Ministry on the Aqueduct is to throw a life preserver to a castaway
The Segura Plan includes an estimate of the socio-economic impact that the transfer cut would have, and in the worst scenario, with a flow of 8.6 cubic meters per second in Aranjuez, it estimated that 10,500 hectares and 8,000 direct jobs would be lost in the Levante . He presented an alternative, more affordable scenario, based on 7 cubic meters per second, which reduced losses to 2,100 hectares and 730 jobs. In the end, a reviewable flow rate was chosen, which might not reach the maximum provided for in the Tagus Plan.
hydroelectric production
The decree includes another provision to increase hydroelectric production in reservoirs and waterfalls to deal with states of emergency that require guaranteeing electricity supply. In these cases, the ecological flow regime may be breached, even if this entails a temporary deterioration of the water masses.
Asaja Alicante has seconded the Transfer Irrigation Union, pointing out that the agreement between the Ministry and the Consell is a “relief” for farmers, and that the field receives this news “like a shipwrecked person who is thrown a life preserver” .
The supply of Ciudad Real and Madrid will affect the Transfer in the long run
The transfer of water from the Tagus to the supplies of the Llanura Manchega, in Ciudad Real, will reach 27.6 cubic hectometres per year in the long term, according to the report to be approved by the National Water Council. This volume, intended for 70 municipalities in the Guadiana basin, will be transported by the ‘Manchega Pipeline’ and will be subtracted from the transferable reserves to the Segura. The law provides for a maximum of 50 hectometres, so said transfer will remain in half until the year 2033.
On the other hand, the reserve of 60 hectometres per year for the Canal de Isabel II that supplies the Community of Madrid does not constitute an increase in demand, but rather a guarantee in the face of specific situations of shortage. It would affect the Transfer in the long term, beyond 2039. In fact, the Canal has reduced the volume of concessions requested.
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