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Date Published: 26/08/2021

ARCHIVED - Regional Murcia government bans nitrate fertilizers immediately around the Mar Menor

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The government in Murcia has taken steps towards saving the Mar Menor, but the problem has now reached crisis point

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Regional Murcia government bans nitrate fertilizers immediately around the Mar Menor

Prompted by the critical state of the Mar Menor, where thousands of fish have washed up dead in the past week, and the heavy criticism of residents and ecological groups, the regional government in Murcia has announced that within the next few days it will pass a decree banning the use of inorganic nitrate fertilizers in zone one of the Mar Menor, which is the closest to the lagoon, as well as prohibiting the further flow of water into the lagoon and other measures designed to immediately halt the entry of nitrates.

This decision comes after days of bickering and blame-shifting between the local, regional and national governments, with the Spanish government refusing to declare the Mar Menor a ‘catastrophe zone’ and allocate more funds to the problem.

The new ban on nitrate-laden fertilizers aims to reduce the risk of the lagoon being contaminated by agricultural nutrients as heavy rain impregnates the fields, and the water slowly leaches down into the aquifer below the vast Campo de Cartagena and the network of water drainage channels which feed into the rambla del Albujón, carrying mud, fertilizers and other substances into the Mar Menor.

In September, the Region of Murcia is frequently the target of intense storms, such as the 2019 gota fría, which also caused thousands of fish to wash up dead due to a lack of oxygen in the water, which is why it is so critical to stop further agricultural run-off from reaching the Mar Menor.

The evolution of the lagoon will largely depend on the weather in the upcoming months, but also on the adherence of the agricultural sector to the new rules on a more long-term basis.

Legal proceedings against the agricultural sector have been ongoing in the region for some time now, with 13 criminal prosecutions for illegal extraction and use of water having been thrown out of the courts and other cases dragging on for years.

To solve this issue, the Murcia president López Miras has also introduced measures to speed up administrative proceedings against farmers who break the rules.

The agricultural activity within the Campo de Cartagena covers an area of 121,514 hectares in the municipalities of San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, Los Alcázares, Torre Pacheco, Fuente Álamo, Cartagena, La Unión and Murcia, and although the illegal activity of farmers drilling illegal wells to extract subterranean water, desalinate and use this water for irrigating crops has received significant attention, the scale of legal cultivation in this vast area also undeniably contributes to the underlying problem of agricultural activity being incompatible with the natural status of the lagoon.

The regional government decree will prohibit any fertilisers (including organic products) within Zone 1, which covers 9,132 hectares, running in a band around the shores of the Mar Menor, which immediately drains into the lagoon.

It's a small step in the right direction, but allied with other actions, will help to reduce the entry of organic fertilisers into the lagoon, as part of a wider raft of measures.

Although the kilos of rotting fish found on the shore in La Manga have been directly linked to an episode on anoxia (lack of oxygen), the indirect cause is a long history of contamination and political inaction, which has now led to the angry public taking matters into their own hands and organizing a petition to declare the lagoon as a legal entity, as well as organizing a ‘human chain’ protest on August 28.

Click here for a more detailed analysis of how and why the Mar Menor has deteriorated in recent decades.

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