Walter Finch
AFTER a disappointing week of stormy weather that failed to replenish reservoirs, Estepona town hall has decided to go ahead with plans to construct a desalination plant.
The €20 million project is projected to take three years, although the site is not yet known.
Local authorities adopted the measure due to the ‘urgency and necessity’ of the water scarcity problem in the province and the Andalusian region, according to acting mayor Jose María García Urbano.
He explained that guaranteeing the water supply is ‘a priority’, not just to meet demand for drinking water, but to ‘ensure the strength of the local economy.’
The town hall said it has ‘initiated the necessary administrative procedures for this purpose and is collaborating with the competent supra-municipal administrations in this matter.’
It comes after record lows saw the Vinuela reservoir sit at just 9.7% capacity – or a meagre 16 cubic hectometres of water last week.
The alarming levels are expected to dwindle considerably more as the summer hits, with Coin already seeing temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius this week.
Across Malaga province the reservoirs sit at just 31.9% of their total capacity.
The Guadalhorce reservoir is at just 31% capacity, while Conde del Guadalhorce sits at 25%.
In Almeria the levels are at just 15.1%, while in Cadiz they sit at 26% and Granada at 32.6%.
READ MORE:
- Spain’s Guadalquivir basin suffers the longest drought since 1970
- Emergency works sanctioned to clean the water in Malaga’s Viñuela reservoir as levels drop below 10% and drought continues
- Spain approves €2.19 billion plan to combat effects of ongoing drought
