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Date Published: 12/03/2024

Drought officially declared in Murcia Segura basin

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The CHS has officially declared the extraordinary drought in the heart of the Segura basin

Drought officially declared in Murcia Segura basin

The Segura basin, the hydrological area which encompasses most of the Region of Murcia, has officially been declared to be in a situation of ‘extraordinary drought’ by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS).

This was announced by the president of the organisation, Mario Urrea, who explained that as of this Monday, March 11, the exceptional situation due to extraordinary drought in the heart of the Segura, called Territorial Unit (UTE) 1 Principal, has come into force.

It comes five years after the Segura basin abandoned its last major period of extreme drought, which lasted for years, and which entailed severe restrictions on water use.

This time around, this corner of southern Spain is the driest in all of Europe. Irrigation water for farms has already been cut by 25% and soon the Calasparra ground wells will be opened up to provide additional water supplies to the area.

The latest indicators, evaluated at the beginning of the month, reveal a severe scarcity of water in the Segura basin and less rain than normal is forecast for Spain this spring. All the same, the CHS has assured that this new drought announcement “does not entail the taking of new restrictive measures for traditional irrigators… other than those previously approved.”

Meanwhile, both the machinery and the other items needed for controlling the extracted water from the Calasparra wells and monitoring its environmental impact are ready, so that the wells can begin to provide water to the Segura River bed in order to increase the circulating flow. This will continue for as long as the current extraordinary drought scenario persists.

The CHS has further confirmed that the supply of drinking water for the general population will not be subject to restrictions.

Luckily, more water is supplied from further north in Spain down to this dry corner of Murcia by the Tagus-Segura water transfer pipe, and these are functioning normally since the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs at the head of the Tagus river have seen their reserves of water increased at this point in the hydrological year thanks to recent rainstorms.

Image: CHS

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