A report internal to oneself Ministry of the ecological transition and the demographic challenge already recognizes that in the future there will be a lack of water for the countryside supplied by the Tajo-Segura transfer and starts from this scenario to allocate the flows of the desalination still not produced in Torrevieja – until the capacity of the plant is increased – among the 46 affected irrigating communities.
“The irrigable areas of the Tajo Segura transfer support, in accordance with the provisions of current hydrological planning, a situation of underfunding or lack of guarantee, arising from the lower volumes actually received from the Tajo Segura transfer, compared to those provided for in the regulations governing the aforementioned transfer and in the allocations of the current hydrological plan 2022/27″, it is stated in this communication called “internal note”, a document to which you have had access ABC.
Furthermore, these reductions – the autonomous government of Carlos Mazón speaks of 25 in total – have reduced by less than half the volume of water resources regulated a priori.
“This situation of lack of resources for all the irrigable areas of the transfer is caused by the fact that, taking into account the transfer forecasts included in the regulations, only 197 hm3 were received on average during the period 1980/81-2017/2018. /year, compared to the allocations provided for in the current Plan Regulation of 421 hm3/year. This leaves a remainder unattended of 224 hm3/year“, they specify.
To compensate for this shutting off of the tap that farmers have been suffering for years, it is now planned enlarge the capacity of the factory desalination plant Torrevieja -the largest in Europe- up to 120 cubic hectometres per year.
However, 94.6% of the water deficit for irrigation will be covered – 100% for domestic supply to households, which is always a priority and assured – and the remaining 5.4% is awaiting “exchanges” with tap water, yet to be determined.
To channel this desalinated flow, existing post-transfer infrastructures will be used and, paradoxically, only one irrigating community, that of San Miguel de Salinas, has been excluded from the distribution, while these farmers are already in fact suffering a triple eviction, expropriated from their land and homes for the installation of solar panels that supply energy to the Torrevieja plant.
From Asaja-Alicante, its president, José Vicente Andreu, denounced the fact that water is being denied precisely to some of those most affected by the government’s water policy, which he described as “shameful”.
Two other communities had previously been excluded because they did not meet the basic conditions for using the transfer, and another because they did not present the necessary documentation.
