Joshua Parfitt
PLASTIC waste has accumulated in the old channel of the Segura river just a day after a massive a clean-up.
The Confederacion Hidografica de Segura (CHS), spent weeks clearing 20 tonnes of solid waste from the mouth of the Segura river, situated in Guadamar de Segura near Torrevieja, which finished last Monday 11.
But the organisation is calling on citizens to ‘stop using the river as a bin’ as just a day later plastic was seen polluting the estuary once more.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to keep the river clean, and therefore avoid damage not only to the ecosystem of Segura but also to the Mediterranean,” a CHS spokesperson said.
The old channel of the Segura river is fed solely by irrigation ditches in comarca of Vega Baja del Segura, which encompasses Torrevieja and Orihuela, meanwhile the new channel is fed by stream passing through Orihuela and beyond upstream.
The CHS is now beginning clean-ups in Orihuela, Almoradi, Benejuzar and Rojales, but added that all must ‘work together to stop the flow of rubbish’ in the region.
“The Confederation has agreed to place meshes at the end of irrigation ditches, and it will be the farmers and the municipalities that deal with the removal of the waste,” the spokesperson added.
GreenPeace also carried out a clean-up last weekend, gathering four tonnes of solid waste at the mouth of the old channel of the Segura river just days after the CHS’ clean-up.
