Cristina Hodgson
MALAGA faces the final stretch of the hydrological year (a time period of 12 months for which precipitation totals are measured) as one of the driest in recent decades.
According to Jesus Riesco, director of the Meteorological Center of Malaga (AEMET), this period (October 1 of one year and September 30 of the next) has so far been the seventh driest since the recording of rainfall data began in the province of Malaga in 1961.
So far the average rainfall recorded in Malaga this hydrological year, until August 31, has been 398.7 liters per square meter. This amount is about 236 liters less than the average rainfall recorded for the same period during the last 60 years in Malaga, with 634.3 liters of water per square meter the norm.
Basically, it has rained a little over half of what is normal for Malaga in a year.
The low rainfall recorded in Malaga in the last year has caused a deficit situation in certain reservoirs in the province—specifically in the reservoir of La Viñuela which, at 10.9% of its capacity, is at the lowest accumulated water level in its history.
More concerning is that, according to Riesco, the predictions estimate that next autumn will also be ‘drier than normal.’
Remaining optimistic, however, Riesco has said: “As we are talking about a Mediterranean climate, the reliability of the predictions for autumn are limited. In these climates, a couple of heavy rains may suddenly appear and recover part of the deficit we have been suffering, and maybe instead of staying below the average, they stay above it”.
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