weird weather

[gavilan]

quote from Axarquia Plus today

This region, the entire Andalusia, is suffering from the longest drought since 1961, according to recent data from Aemet . As of today, the La Viñuela reservoir would need to multiply its current reserves by seven to get out of the severe drought level.

[El Cid]

I think we will never see these reservoirs full again.

The solution in the longer term is a combination of desalination plants and tertiary wastewater treatment and better control of what crops are grown. It is absolutely crazy to grow water hungry crops like avocados and mangoes in what is rapidly becoming a desert. A fully grown avocado needs 400 litres a day!

Sid

[Wicksey]

Well, around here, they continue to plant. We are genuinely concerned for our future here. If our main source from the aquifers in the mountains dries up, then I cannot see us living here. Some areas are already using waste water from treatment plants, but I don't think we could use that in the house in the same way. At the moment, although ours is not drinking water, we do use it boiled for tea and cooking, and from the tap for brushing our teeth etc.

[El Cid]

Tertiary treated wastewater is not safe for drinking unless it has been treated (chlorinated etc) at a drinking water treatment plant, but it should be just as safe as the existing agricultural water supply. Spain has a law which specifies exactly what it can and cannot be used for, but it is fairly restrictive compared to other countries. More and more wastewater treatment plants are being upgraded to tertiary treatment. 69% of all plants in Spain now are tertiary.

Sid

[olive]

I think we will never see these reservoirs full again.

The solution in the longer term is a combination of desalination plants and tertiary wastewater treatment and better control of what crops are grown. It is absolutely crazy to grow water hungry crops like avocados and mangoes in what is rapidly becoming a desert. A fully grown avocado needs 400 litres a day!

Sid

I agree. There was a lot of rain in 66 and 2012 from memory so maybe again in another 40 years.. However by then the populatioi growth and unrestricted water use by farming will be devastating. Yes the answer is a lot more desalination plants and wastewater treatment.

I read an interesting article about why Hidrogafia Gaudalquivir was set up. There are some serious conversations to be undertaken over farming which currently uses 80% of the water. Our recent experience of their inspectors turning up and doing a spot check on a sq km , with our house with legal well. They could have issued fines to a dozen nearby farmers irrigating dry land.

About ten years ago we had a serious project tabled to bring treated wastewater to every finca in our valley from the local town.


Thankfully on reflection , it failed on eco concerns that included a much reduced water flow in the Genil ( prmary feeder river of Andalucia’s biggest reservoir - pantano de Iznajar) . The rivers support a lot of wildlife

[Lavanda]

Apologies to Jane Austin — It is a truth universally acknowledged that ... farmers are never happy.
Farmers here are muttering that it is too wet to do the seasonal planting!

[gavilan]

this in Malaga Hoy this morning ... our local reservoir at the bottom of the list!!!

These are the municipalities of Malaga and areas in which the most liters have been collected this weekend, according to official data recorded by the Hidrosur network :

Jubrique (Genal River): 96.3
Eye: 94.4
Cortes de la Frontera (Majada de las Lomas): 93.9
Guadiaro River (Majaceite): 88.2
Los Reales (Estepona): 68.7
Pujerra: 66.1
Sierra de Mijas: 54.1
Benamargosa River: 51.8
La Concepción Reservoir: 62.2
Alfarnatejo: 59.5
Becerro Caves: 53.4
El Torcal (Antequera): 35.7
Marbella treatment plant: 50
La Viñuela Reservoir: 34.8

[Lavanda]

The wind is in the north and still really cold. I went to Trujillo today and found out why. It was a clear day and 100km to the north I could see the Sierra de Gredos covered in more snow than I have ever seen in 18 years of living here!

[olive]

I love Trujillo. Cannot be too long before they stop cars going into the main square.

In the South we have subtropical air driving the temperatures up. 20C here yesterday. It won’t be long till we “ have had Spring” all two weeks of it! Then we will be in what I call the dry season ( no noticeable rain from mid April until mid September).

Sadly the much hoped for , by Junta de A , rain hasnt materialised.

I made a bet with a Spanish friend yesterday that in our lifetime, The pantano de Iznajar will never be full again. Glass half empty/ half full! It is funny how people cannot or won’t see the combined pressures of climate change, farming practices and population pressures!

[gavilan]

olive wrote: people cannot or won’t see the combined pressures of climate change, farming practices and population pressures! ... I so totally agree with that observation ... human beings just dont want to accept we have to change/adapt ... or die!!!

[Lavanda]

Well, the people that write on here can see it! I blame the EU entirely and their destructive agricultural subsidies for all manner of crazy things. Hopefully, this year's EU elections will bring about some radical change. There again — maybe not.

[olive]

Destructive they maybe but I cannot see wholesale changes especially when folk realise we need to be able to feed Europe in war times.You only need to look at cheap Ukranian grain and the effect on Polish farmers.

Talking to some Spanish farmers they feel the actual protests are fizzling out, not helped by the fines.The timing was poor. Nothing has changed re rules, regulations and factory gate prices except dropping the change on herbicides.

[gavilan]

I dont know anything about EU subsidies ... but down here it was/is large agro businesses such as Sigfrido and Tropps that encouraged farmers to palnt avocados and mangos in return ffor selling their fuit back to the company ... at a price fixed by said companies

ps olive wrote: ' ...we need to feed people in Europe in war times' ... that may be true but avocados and mangos are not exactly basic food stuffs!

[Lavanda]

Hi Gavilan,

Hoy must be doing a round-up of reservoir statistics as they have done a whole page on the state of our reservoirs in Extremadura, as well. We have lots of reservoirs — most villages in the area where I live have their own reservoir — and there are eight big ones. Of those eight, four are reported in detail:

Alcántara has a 2,856 hm3 capacity and is at 90.30% full — more than last year and more than the average over the last decade
Valdecañas has a 1,303 hm3 capacity and is at 90.11% full — more than last year and more than the average over the last decade
Cijara has a 655 hm3 capacity and is at 43.50% full — more than last year but less than the average for the last decade
La Serena has a 748.7hm3 capacity and is at 23.50% full — more than last year but less than the average over the last decade.

Yesterday I drove up to La Garganta in the north of Extremadura and when I went over the Tajo I thought it looked very low and thought that was weird given the rain we have had — but of course, the Tajo rises in the mountains in Teruel and collects and loses water along the way so a lot can happen before it gets to us.

On my return I drove the N630, Ruta de la Plata, rather than the autovía again and passed the huge Alcántara reservoir which is very full — at 90.30% according to Hoy. That would explain why the river was low. The Hydrographic Offices of the Tajo (and the Guadiana further south) are filling the reservoirs. They are both excellent at their job and know they have to get the water in the reservoirs to last the Summer. They know their stuff.

On the down side, I expect there will be the usual row with Portugal soon as they also rely on the Tajo for water and don't want us syphoning it all off unfairly. I think there is a treaty. Such is life and water is life ...

PS All the reservoirs in Extremadura have 16.20% more water than this time last year and are at a mean average for the last decade.

[olive]

You clearly have too much! Send some South please.

[gavilan]

and down here, the Rio Alcaucin that runs past this property, was much replenished by that heavy if brief rain we had about 10 days ago ... since then water level has dropped down by about 2 meters ... and if thia heat continues (29 here today) evaporation will reduce it even more ... ... what grieves me so much is that there has been a lot of water in that river since the rain ... and it all goes into the sea ... and theere is nothing I can do to divert or store any of it

[El Cid]

I think you will find that it goes into Lake Vinuela.

Sid

[Lavanda]

If your Hydrographic people have gone anything about them at all it will, as El Cid writes, go into a reservoir.

[gavilan]

Hydrographic people may say it goes into the reservoir ... but it does not ... it goes passed Los Cortijillos ... down to Puente Don Manuel ... then skirts the hill by the village of La Vinuela ... and joins the river that flows from the dam down towards Velez Malaga ...

[gavilan]

The lake is the principal source of water for the eastern part of the Costa del Sol and is fed by the Guaro and its tributaries, the Sabar, the Benamargosa, the Salia, the Bermuza, the Almachar and the Rubite

from https://www.absoluteaxarquia.com/the-ax ... e-vinuela/