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Date Published: 23/08/2022

ARCHIVED - Malaga reservoir hits all time low as Spain sizzles in worst drought for 60 years

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La Viñuela reservoir in the Andalusian province has sunk to just 11% of its total capacity

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Malaga reservoir hits all time low as Spain sizzles in worst drought for 60 years

It's not a dire situation unique to Andalucia as the most severe drought in six decades continues to grip Spain, but the situation is becoming critical in Malaga where one of the largest reservoirs has reached an all-time low.

The province is facing the last days of the hydrological year – which ends on September 30 – with its sights set on the rainfall forecasts for next month. And if the heavy autumnal rains don't arrive, the number of subtropical growers who will resort to emergency irrigation using water tankers will skyrocket.

This is the stark warning from the agricultural sector unions, which have revealed that some farmers have already taken this drastic step.

Yesterday, the main reservoir in the province, La Viñuela, was at 11.71% of its capacity with just 19.25 cubic hectometres in reserve. At a rate of 0.5 hectometres consumed per week, August will close at just over 11%.

Just a year ago it held twice as much water, a touch over 41 hectometres.

The unions have indicated that mango farmers who will be facing harvesting season in a few weeks have begun to hire vehicles to supply their farms with tankers, despite the fact that the water can cost five times more than supplies from La Viñuela.

Also of interest: Spanish Stonehenge emerges from reservoir amid historic drought

Since its opening in the 1980s, the reservoir has never been at such low levels, making it difficult to know the minimum below which supply from this reservoir will no longer be possible.

The Andalucían Government is, however, aware that the minimal drop in flow compared to previous summers is "historic", and is "keeping an eye on the situation".

The contributions of reclaimed water for irrigation, as well as the connection with La Concepción reservoir via the new water highway opened in April, have partly compensated for the accumulated deficit.

Overall, the province has 266 cubic hectometres of water in storage, which represents 43% of the total capacity of the seven reservoirs in Malaga; 15 cubic hectometres less than 12 months ago.

That means that if La Viñuela is excluded, the accumulated flow is higher than this time last summer. La Concepción currently stands at 73.1% capacity followed by the Guadalteba reservoir with 67.5%. The Casasola dam is also above half (53.5%), whilst the Conde de Guadalhorce reservoir is at 48.65% capacity.

Now read: Stolen pleasure boats recovered in Malaga and Cadiz

Image: Twitter/Carlos Castro

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