Although spring rains have brought calm to the region North of the province of Cordoba and its lack of reserves, the good situation of its marshes and the relief it has brought to the various administrations to face the problem seem to be turning into a storm. Or at least some of its main representatives do not seem to opt for tranquility.
The president of the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation, Joaquín Páez, had the pleasure of speaking this Tuesday on Radio Córdoba, directly accusing the Andalusian government of demanding the connection between Puente Nuevo and Sierra Boyera for “covering up his incompetence at La Colada”. And a few weeks ago the Ministry of Agriculture awarded the works of its supply network fifteen years later that the Andalusian government of Manuel Chaves has paralyzed them “sine die.”
Páez did not stop there and regretted that, four years later, the Commission had drawn up the La Colada transfer project “without taking into account that there is already an emergency work completed in March 2023 and that was born with the intention of being definitive.”
His statement is striking because the PSOE (his party) has actively and passively demanded this leadership from the Andalusian government of Juanma Moreno. And also because the emergency works to which the president of the basin body refers have consisted of seizing its electric motors to pump the contaminated water from La Colada.
The urgency that has disappeared
Some electrical problems that have been waiting to be solved for more than a year thanks to the initiative of the Provincial Council of Córdoba to strengthen the supply of the transfer of the use of the Los Pelayos Medium Voltage line to ensure the power supply, at least during the night, of the current provisional pumping system. The curious thing is that Joaquín Páez, in his statements to Radio Córdoba, asked precisely for this electrical reinforcement from Los Pelayos that is not arriving.
As has been published on numerous occasions and there is audiovisual testimony in a recorded video record of the Drought Commission held in January 2022 – in which Páez was present – it was the Hydrographic Confederation itself that then requested to establish the link with Puente Nuevo, of which its president is now distrustful.
In addition, the head of projects of the hydrographic entity sent a letter to the Provincial Council of Córdoba showing this urgency and the need for Emproacsa undertakes the project since European funds were available to undertake the connection. Furthermore, this would be included as additional work to the drought decree that the government was preparing.
But the rush gave way in two months to the pause and the drawer where the interests were kept. The fight between the PSOE and the PP then began in search of solutions to quench the thirst of the North with several electoral events along the way.
If before it was the quantity of water, now the argument spread by the PSOE is the lack of quality of the water supplied to the North. This was repeated by the deputy delegate of the government in Córdoba, Ana López, in an interview with ABC. Páez reportedly said on Radio Córdoba that it was time to “guarantee the proper purification of the water stored in the Sierra Boyera reservoir.”
For this purpose, the expansion of the improvement of the Sierra Boyera Water Treatment Plant which was projected by the CHG in collaboration with the Provincial Council and which costs 8.5 million which, according to the head of the basin organization, it seems that the central government will pay. Currently, a first phase of improvement of this station has been carried out with funds from the Government of Andalusia (4 million euros).
