Cristina Hodgson
URGENT measures are being drawn up to combat the drought crisis across Andalucia including the possible transfer of some 5 cubic hectares of water from the Iznajar reservoir (Cordoba) to supply the region of Antequera (Malaga).
The request of the transfer of water to Antequera from Iznajar has been made by the Junta to the central government who are now in charge of authorising the petition.
In an initial statement, the Spanish Government has announced that it does not ‘rule out’ authorising the transfer of water from one province to another once ‘all the possible alternatives have been analysed’ and it is the only ‘viable alternative’.
That said, for such a transfer to take place, it would first require the undertaking of an infrastructure with an estimated cost of almost €50 million.
The pipeline from the Iznajar reservoir in Cordoba to the northern Antequera area, was supposed to have been built back in 2015.
The pipeline would take water from the Iznajar reservoir in Cordoba to the Antequera and Norma district in the north of the province, a project that the Junta has supposedly committed the €50 million needed, however, it depends on the government authorising the transfer of 4.89Hm3 a year.
This transfer would supposedly benefit nearly a dozen municipalities, many of which currently depend on water being brought in by tankers in the summer.
Unfortunately, Malaga lacks major projects in motion to deal with the water crisis in the long term.
Another project, first proposed in 2014 and still pending, is to increase the capacity of La Concepción reservoir in Marbella, either that or have an infrastructure in place to divert excess to other reservoirs,
The Concepcion reservoir is frequently drained into the sea when it reaches full capacity, illogical when there is so much need for it on the other side of the province, specifically in Axarquia.
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