Date Published: 02/12/2019
ARCHIVED - Fears for the Mar Menor as Murcia prepares for another gota fría storm
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Another influx of runoff water containing harmful substances could bring more deterioration of the marine environment
With emergency services throughout the Region of Murcia activating “pre-emergency” protocols due to the possibility of flooding during another gota fría storm, and with Aemet having issued yellow alert warnings on Monday and orange alerts on Tuesday for rainfall of up to 100 millimetres, the first concern has to be the safety of members of the public and the hope that there is no repeat of the widespread flooding caused by another gota fría in September of this year.
At the same time, though, there are worries that with the heaviest rain forecast to hit the Campo de Cartagena area the storm could cause more runoff of soil containing harmful substances into the Mar Menor, where the condition of the marine environment has deteriorated drastically since the flooding in September. Nitrates, phosphates and other substances have been accumulating in the lagoon for decades and were the main cause of the episode which turned the water in the Mar Menor greenish in colour in 2016, but that was nothing compared to the escalation of the problems over the last couple of months.
As the floodwater receded in September it became clear that the effect on the lagoon had been little short of devastating. In the immediate aftermath the most visible consequence was the amount of debris in the water, from agricultural plastic and reeds to waste containers, street furniture and cars, but it soon became apparent that the damage was even more far-reaching. The arrival of vegetation which had been washed away raised the level of chlorophyll in the water considerably while the fact that the rain is of course fresh water brought about a sharp fall in salinity.
But the most dramatic event did not occur until a month later, when a large pocket of anoxic water (lacking in oxygen) formed and as a result tons of dead fish and crustaceans washed ashore on the beaches of the Mar Menor. Biologists report that below a depth of around 3.5 metres 70 per cent of all life in the lagoon was wiped out at a stroke.
The condition of the lagoon remains critical while the regional and national governments take an agonizingly long time to agree on courses of action to protect and regenerate it, and if more flooding were to cause another influx of fresh water containing nitrates now the consequences hardly bear thinking about.
Again, the first concern as heavy rain threatens has to be for human safety and possible damage to infrastructures and built-up areas, but at the same time it must be hoped that if awareness is to be raised of the problems in the Mar Menor – and the issue has apparently been removed from the agenda at the climate summit in Madrid this week – it not due to more calamitous flooding in and around the lagoon.
Join the Murcia Weather Watch group on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest forecasts and weather-related stories: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RegionOfMurciaWeatherWatch/.