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The summer is coming to an end and while hoping that there is considerable rainfall in autumn, Malaga province faces a looming crisis with its reservoirs at 19.2 per cent of their capacity, with just 117 cubic hectometres stored, compared to the 147 they had a year ago. Given this scenario, the project to build a desalination plant in the Axarquía – Malaga province’s eastern side – is urgent to be able to supply both homes and the area’s vast agricultural sector.
The Andalusian government’s spokesperson for agriculture, fisheries, water and rural development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has announced that he plans to meet the secretary of state for the environment, Hugo Morán, in the first half of September to put pressure on the central government to start the Axarquía plant as well as one in Almeria province.
Fernández-Pacheco was answering questions from journalists on Monday 26 August where he explained that he has had “the opportunity to speak” with the Morán “on several occasions over the summer”, and “in principle” he is going to meet with him “during the first fortnight of September in Madrid, with the aim of going over all the actions that we have in common, especially those that are the responsibility of the Ministry in Andalucía”. He added that there were quite a few pending projects in the region that are the responsibility of the central government.
Going too slowly
As reported by Europa Press, the regional government believes that the Axarquía desalination plant project is going “too slowly” and “the situation cannot be delayed any longer’” according to Fernández-Pacheco, who confirmed that the Andalusian government is going to ask the central government, as it has done “on so many occasions, to give absolute priority to the construction of these plants, because we cannot depend on rain”.
He went on to say, “We know that it is raining less and less, the situation is complicated, and we are talking about two areas in which human supply and the provision of water resources to the primary sector is fundamental,” because “the future of many, many families depends on it”.
Fernández-Pacheco said the Junta will attend the meeting in September “in a constructive spirit, as always, but with the logical and necessary demand “to speed up the deadlines, to prioritise and to provide the necessary financial resources” so that both Axarquía and Almeria can have these plants “as soon as possible”.
Critical situation
The Andalusian reservoir levels continue to go down and up to 23 August had 3,883 cubic hectometres in storage, which represents 32.45% of the total storage capacity, after a decrease of 107 hectometres (-0.89%) in one week.
Compared to the same week last year, there are 1,292 cubic hectometres more, when the stored resources were 2,591 hectometres (21.65%). Considering the average of the last ten years, the volume now in storage is 1,193 hectometres less. The average for the last decade amounts to 5,474 hectometres (45.75%).
Fernández-Pacheco pointed out that the situation is “critical” above all in some areas such as Malaga city, the Axarquía and the lower Guadalhorce, although he indicated that the drought committees at the beginning of the summer set out a road map which they are complying with “to the letter”.
