THE water policy of government shows a double standard of measurement for the opposing criteria this applies according to the territories: it has just given the green light to a reduction in ecological flows in the basin of the Jucar by the drought while keeping them unchanged in the Tagus and thus dynamite the future of transfers to the Segura.
This very controversial aspect and one of the central arguments put forward by the president of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Pagethe minimum quantity of water which must circulate in the bed of the river, now seems more flexible when this socialist leader does not put pressure on the executive of the Pedro Sanchez.
Although the Supreme Court confirmed that, indeed, ecological flows must be established to preserve the environmental health of the Tagus, which has never been questioned by the irrigators of Alicante and Murcia of the Segura, it does not did not specify what they should be, nor in what quantity. .
Asked about this question by the president of Asaja Alicante, Jose Vicente Andreudid not hesitate to qualify as “ideological flows “buildings” those strictly applied in the Tagus. For years, technicians have monitored that at least six cubic meters of water (6,000 liters) circulate per second near Toledo.
In fact, the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ) has now left the door open to reduce its costs during the presentation, this Friday in Valenceof its new proposal for the revision of the Special Drought Plan (PES) for the years to come, which replaces the one in force since November 2018.
The objective is to combine the “minimize THE environmental impactseconomic and social episodes of drought”, with the no less important “guarantee of the availability of water to ensure existing uses and the health of the population”. Miguel Polopresident of this organization – dependent on the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge -, confirmed the declaration of an exceptional situation due to an extraordinary drought.
And possible reductions in the requirements for ecological flow rates and the conditions under which said less demanding flow rate can be applied are being considered, he detailed. Arancha Fidalgohead of the Hydrological Planning Office (OPH).
Likewise, the need to accelerate environmental assessment procedures for drought wells is emphasized so that can be activated when necessary. Even if no reference is made to the Segura basin, this lack of foresight denounced by farmers (Asaja Alicante) and the Generalitat Valenciana means that we cannot now resort to this emergency resource for these crops and the harvest of winter vegetables.
In fact, the irrigators of Júcar will also be the first to suffer the restrictions, if that moment comes. However, in the Confederation, “plans for agricultural emergency” in order to “anticipate and mitigate” problems, with “water saving or selection of crops “ideal for every scenario.”
On the other hand, this contrasts with this vision of continuous rehabilitation to circumstances and a certain flexibility with the fixed and hermetic posture of the Tagus, with a horizon that in 2027 envisages raising the minimum ecological flows up to 8.65 cubic meters per second, which will result in a reduction between 70 and 110 hectometers per year transferi.e. more than half of the current volume, or already 50% less than planned when the aqueduct was commissioned.
