SE Spain Water Situation Critical - Reservoirs At 10% Of Capacity

As Spain struggles to cope with the worst drought for 10 years, running water may soon be cut in some parts of the South-east. Taps could run dry in Murcia and Alicante. Reservoirs which supply that part of the country are down to 10 per cent of their capacity after months of severe drought. Up to two million people who are served by those depleted reservoirs could be left having to depend on bottled water.

Spain's Environment Minister Cristina Narbona accused politicians in Alicante and Murcia of being more concerned with building thousands of villas, hotels and golf courses, than managing the water supply. Spain's booming agricultural sector, growing fruit and vegetables in plastic tunnels, is another huge drain on the water supply. In the past week, the amount of water in the Entrepeñas and Buendia reservoirs in central Spain has fallen by five cubic hectometres. More than half of the water reserves are little more than mud and not useful for human consumption.

With a total of only 244 cubic hectometres left, they have reached the point where there is little water remaining in the Segura and Júcar rivers. Those rivers supply drinking water to the homes and businesses in Murcia and the Valencian province of Alicante. Reservoirs in the Segura river are currently at 12 per cent of their normal capacity while those in the Jucar are down to 13 per cent after losing 28 cubic hectometres in the past week alone. It means with water levels so low, residents in Murcia and Alicante may have only a few weeks of running water left. If the expected rains do not arrive in October, then the situation could worsen.

The authorities have admitted the crisis has never been more serious, despite previous bad droughts in 2004 and last year.

EDIT

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1222824.ece

Now it's a shithole of 'holiday villas' but when I lived there it was lovely countryside, with farms and crops and so forth. Very pastoral...but that was a long, long time ago. The only downside was that Franco was running the joint.

is now covered by plastic 'greenhouses' under which vegetables & fruit are grown mostly for export to supermarket chains.

Water that is piped in is still used inefficiently.

Then, there are the still mushrooming new-built suburban complexes and tourist resorts which irrigate their gardens and golf courses.

Spain has to stop overbuilding and wasting water.

K&R.

Not that we would EVER do the same thing in the U.S. After all, who would be so insane as to build golf courses and swimming pools and fountains in the Southwestern desert?

at least they told the golf courses they wouldn't be allowed to water during the lates drought.

There may be some DUer somewhere contemplating a golf vacation in Spain.

It hasn't necessarily been good for my career, but I hate golf.

World Water War

has the feel of a major calamity. Global Warming?