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Malaga province faces the summer with the reservoirs at pre-alert levels

The La Viñuela reservoir holds only a third of its capacity.
The La Viñuela reservoir holds only a third of its capacity. / SALVADOR SALAS

  • The reserves are at 56 per cent and some areas could see the introduction of water restrictions in the autumn if the rain doesn't return

  • FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ

Malaga province heads into the summer season with one eye on the sky and the other on the reservoirs – to avoid having an autumn without water restriction worries.

The Costa del Sol has a guaranteed summer supply but the outlook could be ‘complicated’ in the autumn if the rain doesn’t return.

The seven reservoirs in Malaga are at their lowest level (56 per cent) since 2017 with 345 cubic hectometres compared to 425 last year, which places the province at the pre-alert level.

Those of the Guadalhorce reservoir system (Guadalteba, Guadalhorce and Conde de Guadalhorce), which are the main water source of Malaga city, currently total 213 Hm3.

Malaga province faces the summer with the reservoirs at pre-alert levels

But the largest, La Viñuela, which supplies the Axarquía is at 31.7 per cent, with 52.5 Hm3 that places it at the alert threshold.

At the other end of the province, La Concepción, which is the main supply to the western coast, is almost full (89 per cent, 55.1 Hm3), although its low capacity forces it to discharge water in the rainy season.

Inland, particularly in the northern part of the province where reservoir supplies do not yet reach, aquifers are also at a low level and some residents will face a summer relying on water tankers.

So far this year Malaga province has accumulated an average of 415.6 litres per square metre of rainfall, which translates into a deficit of 158.4 l/m2 compared to the historical average of 574 that should have been collected, according to data from the state meteorological agency (Aemet).

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