The Axarquía in Malaga is the first major Andalusian region to be affected by drought restrictions. Five municipalities with 90,000 inhabitants have already implemented measures that include the interruption of services at dawn, in addition to a ban on filling swimming pools or washing with drinking water. These are El Borge, Almáchar, Iznate, Benamargosa and the regional capital, Vélez-Málaga, whose population doubles in summer. The cuts came after the Junta de Andalucía issued multiple warnings about the need to reduce consumption due to the critical state of the La Viñuela reservoir, penalized by the irrigation of subtropical fruit crops, the persistent lack of rainfall and the illegal catchments The Guardia Civil is investigating the leaks in the infrastructure. Indeed, today it is at its historical low: at 9.12% of its capacity. It supplies 14 cities in which 200,000 people live. More restrictive measures are not excluded for the future.
The image of the reservoir is spooky. In the middle of a desert there are stranded boats, several pedal boats and a jetty with splintered wood. The markings on the ground of the places previously covered by water are hundreds of meters from the current shoreline. Since the inauguration in February 1989, the water level here has never been this low and is on the verge of dropping below 15 cubic hectometres, a third lower than at this time last year. Since then it has hardly rained and there is no forecast for it. Today it is even necessary to activate the pumping pumps of the public company Axaragua, since the flow is no longer done by gravity. With a consumption of around two hectometers per month, there are reserves for a little over seven months. And for human use only. Farmers, who have been in disrepute since the police operation that uncovered numerous irregular wells in part of the area’s more than 7,000 hectares of subtropical orchards, have been unable to use water from the swamp since last fall and are awaiting work , which the Junta de Andalucía promotes in order to be able to use the regenerated arrivals from various water treatment plants on the Malaga coast.
View of the state of La Viñuela reservoir and the reservoir that has very low water levels due to the drought. Garcia-Santos (The Country)
In 2021, the Junta de Andalucía’s special drought plan brought to the table the low percentage of swamps – at the time it was around 30% – and urged municipalities to reduce consumption. In the summer of 2022, the Andalusian government emphasized the increasingly serious situation and set a target of reducing consumption by 20%. As this has not been achieved, the amount of daily drinking water available to communities is directly reduced from about 220 liters per person per day to about 170 liters. The majority of those affected live in Vélez-Málaga. Its largest neighborhood, Torre del Mar, right on the beach, spends these summer months with about 20,000 to about 80,000 residents, including second home owners and temporary tourists, in addition to peaks like the one recorded from this Wednesday to Sunday with the celebration of the Weekend Beach Festival , which is expected to attract up to 40,000 people daily.
On Tuesday last week, the city – like the rest of the region’s cities – received word that Axaragua would cut its supply of municipal water utility Aqualia by 20%. Faced with the possibility of mid-afternoon service disruption, the city council decided to introduce night-time restrictions on top of those already dragging on from last year, such as nightly restrictions. B. the lack of water in the beach showers and the new bans on filling swimming pools, washing cars outside approved facilities or watering gardens with drinking water. On Thursday, they began a test with cuts between midnight and 6 a.m., and then from 11:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. The situation has not had any serious consequences. “90% of the population has cisterns,” stresses the councilor, admitting that there have been complaints from bakers or people examining sanctions measures after two families decided this weekend to fill their pool in the urbanization of Baviera.
The hospitality sector has shown its disparity. Antonio Pastor, President of the Association of Merchants and Entrepreneurs of Torre del Mar (ACET), believes that they should have been warned in advance to be safe and that the restrictions’ opening hours should start and end later – they beat from 2pm to 5pm before 8am – so cafes, ice cream parlors and restaurants can work better at night. “It’s high season and people stay late. You can’t work like that, we lose quality and employment,” emphasizes Pastor, who believes that the measures should be the same for the 14 communities that drink from La Viñuela, “and that there should be no complaints”.
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The Vice President of Axaragua, Gregorio Campos, and the Mayor of Iznate agree on this point. In statements to the SER, he recalled that he had already warned the municipalities about the situation on several occasions and forwarded the information from the Junta de Andalucía to each city council. The aim now is to bring together those responsible for water management in the region, unify their points of view and find a common solution and reverse the situation “in the most fair and supportive way”. There are those that have their own resources, such as Nerja, with fountains on the Chíllar River that do not require water from the reservoir and are therefore not subject to any restrictions. As Ecologistas en Acción reports, its catchment areas are already overfished and could cause problems in the future. “I think that the rest of the municipalities should make an effort to save and save,” said Campos. “Many farmers have lost countless subtropical plantations. Now it’s up to the public to make an effort,” stressed the person, who applauded municipalities “who have been brave” to cut consumption.
While others continue to consider measures, Rincón de la Victoria, with a population of more than 50,000, has already started. With its promenade raised by the emergency works of the Junta de Andalucía against the drought. This Monday, he released a proclamation banning the use of drinking water to fill private swimming pools or wash streets, warning that “more restrictive measures may be taken depending on how the drought situation evolves.” Irrigation of gardens or golf courses is also prohibited, although the only facility in the community uses treated water, the same used for street cleaning. Mayor Francisco Salado has repeatedly stressed the importance of reducing consumption, including in the Malaga Provincial Council, of which he is President. In his new mandate, water management was identified as the main challenge and pledged to allocate 50 million annually to address deficits. A study by the institution presented earlier this year sought to detect leaks totaling 7.45 cubic hectometres per year in the supply networks of 74 of Malaga’s 103 municipalities, an amount that could supply a city of 100,000 people at the same time.
Problems in the rest of Andalusia
Beyond the big cities, there are also other municipalities in different parts of Andalusia that have started to take measures to reduce water consumption due to the drought situation. For example in Cádiz, where municipalities like Chipiona, Vejer de la Frontera and San Roque have decided to save water by stopping shower services on the beaches. In this last municipality, they assure that the measure is taken “because of the irresponsibility” found in the use of these coastal infrastructures, according to Councilor Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix at the end of June last year. In addition, in the northern part of the province of Córdoba, about twenty cities have rebelled with protests and demonstrations after almost three months without tap water for human consumption and also suffering nighttime restrictions and temporary restrictions in broad daylight.
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