THE “good situation” for water storage in which the 18 reservoirs managed in Castile and León were closed for the hydrological year this Monday, September 30 by the Duero Hydrographic Confederation (CHD) allowed the basin organization to authorize “Extraordinary” and “sporadic” risks in the first half of October, beyond the usual campaign, responding to requests received. This was announced by its president, María Jesús Lafuente, who, although it conditioned that they could continue irrigating their crops at the volume of liquid, assumed that this could be achieved after a campaign that ended without major restrictions, after the complicated ones above.
And the Confederacy Swamps are much better than they were a year ago. On average, They are at 47.3 percent of their capacity, with 1,349 hectometers. cube of liquid stored once summer has passed, the period of highest consumption and the one which generally records the fewest contributions. It is, moreover, the “best data” since 2018stands out since Confederation and also means exceeding the average of the last decade (38 percent) by nine percentage points.
Optimistic outlook
And although everything will depend on how the months evolve, the truth is that being 16 percentage points above the levels they had at that time in 2023 means that anticipate that the next irrigation campaign presents “good prospects”.
“Heavy” precipitation in fall and winter, as well as storms also dumped in spring and summer, contributed significantly to this improved appearance of the reservoirs.
In fact, most Douro systems record an accumulated por above the average of the last decadeand even in Carrión and Pisuerga de Palencia – which last year fell almost to the point of dehydration – the difference “is appalling”, assesses the president of the CHD.
There are cases where the glasses are half fullhighlighting Arlanza, at 62 percent; Alto Duero, Tormes and Águeda, also above 50 percent. But there are also exceptions, like the Las Cogotas reservoir in Ávila, at 40 percent.
