Cole Sinanian
ANDALUCIA president Juanma Moreno announced in a press conference Thursday that the region’s largest cities will face water cuts in the coming weeks — unless it rains for 30 days straight.
The president announced the measures during a meeting with Andalucia’s Drought Expert Committee at the San Telmo Palace in Sevilla, the third time the group has convened since its formation in October 2022.
During the meeting, Moreno called on individuals and businesses alike to limit their water use as much as possible, Canal Sur reported.
“We are in an extreme situation,” he said.
“This is not about being frightened, but about being realistic,” he continued.
To avert the worst consequences of the drought, Moreno said that intense rainfall is needed, which would amount to nearly 30 days straight of continuous precipitation.
Unless this unlikely scenario is met, large Andalucian cities like Cordoba, Sevilla and Malaga will begin the summer with water restrictions in place.
The president also announced that €50 million in drought-relief funds will be made available to the agriculture and food industries, beginning on January 29.
Currently, 60 Andalucian municipalities are already under drought restrictions.
The Drought Expert Committee — made up of 10 scientists and academics appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development — was formed in 2022 to help advise the Andalucian government on drought mitigation policies, as part of the community’s 5-year, €4 million SOS Plan to monitor and address drought conditions through 2027.
Andalucia has been one of the worst-hit regions in a historic drought that has stressed much of Spain and Southern Europe, with lack of rainfall affecting some 60% of the Spanish countryside.
And effects on crops have been catastrophic, causing irreversible damages to 3.5 million hectares of farmland.
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