Drought crisis forces nightly water cuts and reliance on water tankers across the Axarquía

The technical problem in the motor of the La Cantera well was detected last week and since then tankers have been transporting water from the El Trapiche water treatment plant to the municipal reservoirs which supply water to towns such as Puente de Don Manuel and Venta Baja, among others. However, the fault was expected to be repaired by today, Wednesday 5 October.

The town hall "strongly urged" residents to use drinking water "exclusively for domestic purposes". The Partido Popular (PP) spokesman in the opposition and former mayor, Domingo Lozano, expressed to SUR his "discomfort" at the lack of information from the socialist PSOE team. "We are here to collaborate, but I think that not enough information is being given to residents, we are going to ask for an extraordinary meeting," said the PP councillor.

In Periana, the town hall published a letter to residents on its Facebook page on Wednesday 5 October to say that the water supply would be cut from 10pm until 6am every night “in order to guarantee the daytime supply for as long as possible with the existing reserves” in several of its hamlets and outlying districts, including Camino de la Moya, Regalón-Malpelo and Camino de Algarrobo to La Cucuracha.

A number of areas in the village have been unable to drink tap water for more than two weeks because of the quality of the water coming from a well which supplies half of the population, again because of low levels due to the drought.

Residents in the village of Comares have been getting water delivered in tankers since the end of August as the three wells from which half the population is supplied have dried up due to the drought.