News, August 2005

Winter drought brings stored water to record lows

What happened to the swimming pool? /EFE

1 May,.. 26th July. The environment minister, Cristina Narbona has called on all to conserve water, after winter rainfall (November to March) was at its lowest since 1947. Levels in the reservoirs, as we head into the usually dry summer season, can only guarantee supplies to homes until October. And she fears that this may be the first in a series of dry years.

Water supplies in the Tagus valley, July 2005 (MMA)

In some regions, such as dry Murcia, where intensive agriculture combines with coastal holiday and retirement homes (10,000 British live there permanently), water may need to be rationed earlier. At 26th July the reserves in the region are down to 14.1% and falling by 0.6% weekly. Benidorm's resrves are at a similar danger point, with the Costa del Sol and Costa Brava not far behind. An emergency transfer of reserves from the Tagus basin to Segura was agreed earlier this month, but satisfactory to no one.

Madrid's Water supply! (EFE)

The 1947 drought and several dry years at the start of the 1950s brought severe famine to much of Spain, in part relieved by the Marshall Plan. How Spain has changed in these 58 years!

14th June. The governments of Valencia and Murcia, regions most affected by the drought and beloved of British and European tourists, have declared today that they are willing to pay the full amount needed to build a 'water highway' to bring Pyrenean water from the Ebro basin to the south east coast. A national plan approved by the previous government has now been shelved as uneconomic and unlikely to bring the desired results: when drought hits the south east, the north east is equally hit, even if it still has more water.