Figures show levels in Granada reservoirs lower than in 2006
DROUGHT will continue to plague Andalucia while the demand for water will rise, according to the Los Verdes (Green) Party.
The political group has asked the Junta de Andalucia regional government to charge people for their water in direct relation with the amount used to counter the greater demands on the regions water supply.
Los Verdes want a raise from ten to 13 centimos in the cost of a cubic metre of water.
The appeal comes as a new Water Law, which is set to include new water charges, is being prepared for the region.
“Those who use more water, should pay more for it,” the new regional leader of Los Verdes, Andrés Sánchez, told a press conference in Granada.
“Levels of precipitation are going to be drastically reduced in Andalucia over the next century due to climate change.
“The drought is here to stay,” Sánchez, who replaced Francisco Garrido as Andalucia leader, said as the latest figures show average water levels in reservoirs in Granada are lower than they were last year.
According the Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir and Cuenca Mediterránea Andaluza – the two bodies that monitor water levels in the province, Granada’s reservoirs are at 50 per cent of their capacity.
This is a 1 per cent drop on the same time in 2006.
The reservoir with the lowest levels of water in relation to its capacity is San Clemente, with 14 cubic hectometres (hm3) of water (118 hm3 capacity).
Negratín in the north of the province is the fullest with 295 hm3 (567 hm3 capacity).
Water levels in neighbouring Almería, however, can only be described as drastic. The Almanzora reservoir contains only 1.5 hm3 of water (168 hm3 capacity).
Meanwhile, wildlife group WWF has warned Spain is “the country at the greatest risk of desertification in all of Europe.”
This is because it suffers from a great deal of soil erosion every year due to more land being exposed.
Speaking in Sevilla at the opening of a drought summit, spokesman Alberto Fernández said: “Around 30 per cent of the country’s surface area shows real signs of desertification. The reasons for this are a lack of rainfall, forest fires, the overuse of natural water deposits and intensive farming.”
He added a reduction of water levels in underground deposits “affects soil fertility, producing desertification that is irreversible.”
