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Cartagena could send water to Andalucia by boat if drought worsens
Surplus water from Murcia could be used to alleviate the drought situation in other parts of southern Spain
The Junta de Andalucía has reached an agreement with the Government of the Region of Murcia for the Escombreras desalination plant in Cartagena to provide the water for transfer by boat to the ports of Carboneras (Almería), Málaga and Algeciras (Cádiz) in the event of that it is necessary to take this measure due to the drought situation that Andalucía is suffering from.
The spokesperson for the Junta de Andalucía, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, said, “We are still in talks with the Confederación Hydrográfica del Segura (CHS)”, which is the Murcia water authority board that must give approval for the shipment of surplus water from the Cartagena facilities.
However, despite how bad the Andalucía drought currently is, Murcia is not far behind and the CHS itself predicted just last week that the Region of Murcia would need over a month of solid rain to avoid a situation of ‘extraordinary drought’.
The Murcia desalination plant in Escombreras, which is owned by the company Hydro Management, part of the ACS group, is one of the largest in the country and has the capacity to produce more than 22.8 cubic hectometres of desalinated water. Right now, though, it is barely producing more than 2 cubic hectometres due to the restrictions on irrigation that the CHS maintains for the irrigators who buy the water.
In the northeast of Spain, the autonomous community of Catalonia is also looking at importing water by boat from Sagunto in the Valencian Community. The situation for Catalonia is much different from the circumstances in Andalucía, however, as most of the demand for water is highly concentrated in the Barcelona urban area, whereas in Andalucía the area where water is needed is much more spread out.
staff.inc.and
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