Eastern Costa del Sol and Axarquía town halls fail to agree on drought crisis measures

In the face of the continued drought in the Axarquía and different responses from the affected town halls the public company Axaragua, under the authority of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Oriental-Axarquía (municipal association of the eastern Costa del Sol-Axarquía), has decided to convene weekly meetings to try to reach a consensus on the measures among the 14 municipalities it supplies.

After the last drought management committee meeting in the Andalucía region, the Junta ordered that the 31 municipalities of the eastern Costa del Sol region had to reduce their consumption by at least 20% to try to guarantee human supply until the end of the summer. The area’s main reservoir, La Viñuela, is at unprecedented low in its 34-year history, with just 9% of its capacity, equivalent to 14.9 cubic hectometres of water.

Last week Vélez-Málaga was the first major town in the area to announce nighttime water cuts, from 11.30pm to 7am. The decision caused unease among hospitality and tourist providers, who have described the situation as a "big problem" for the sector, especially the hotel and catering industry and nightlife. Other small villages that are also supplied by the reservoir and the water transfers from Malaga city and Nerja are also implementing night-time restrictions, such as Almáchar, Iznate, El Borge, Benamargosa and Moclinejo.

The acting president of the Mancomunidad and mayor of La Viñuela, José Juan Jiménez, told SUR that each municipality "has autonomy and sovereignty when it comes to adopting them [the restrictions], because the circumstances may be different in each case".

"We are asking for an effort to reduce losses and, above all, to adjust to the allocation that the Junta has imposed on us, which is 160 litres per inhabitant per day, more than 20% less than what has been consumed until now, which was more than 200," Jiménez said.

A meeting held on Thursday 6 July was attended by around half of the 14 municipalities served by Axaragua, with notable absentees, including Vélez-Málaga. The town’s councillor for Water, Jesús María Claros , regretted that he had not been called "sufficiently in advance", but said he plans to attend next week's meeting.

"We have had to take such harsh measures… because the previous councillors have not complied with the three drought decrees, which have been in force since June 2021," Claros said.

The councillor pointed out that the nighttime cuts are allowing the supplied reservoir to "recover much faster, and there are nights when the water is not having to be cut off in some areas of the town". "The ideal is that we reach a consensus between all the measures, whatever political colour we are," Claros added.

The councillor acknowledged that Vélez-Málaga is a municipality with a large hinterland, which demands a lot of water in summer "and that we do not have alternative resources, as other towns such as Rincón de la Victoria, Torrox or Algarrobo, which have wells for irrigation. In our case the Molino de las Monjas wells have been depleted for more than a year". This supply used provide, on average, four cubic hectometres per year, about half of the water required annually by the town.

Another added problem for Vélez-Málaga is water losses and leaks in the municipal network. A 2014 study put the figure at 24% of the total water supplied in the networks, with around 1.5 cubic hectometres per year. However, these losses could now be around 40%, SUR has learned. "The saving measures should have been taken much earlier and all the major leaks should have been fixed, and we are working on them, but we have only been governing for three weeks," Claros said.

Jiménez pointed out 17 other municipalities in the eastern region are not supplied from the reservoir, but from their own wells. In these areas there are no major problems in the supply, with the exception of areas of the Colmenar district such as Solano. "But if it continues not to rain, in the end we are all going to have to make restrictions, because there will be no water in the coming months," he said.

Jiménez said that not all technicians are in favour of nighttime water cuts, "because they tell us that they can cause more problems, such as breakdowns and people stockpiling water in their homes or businesses, which they then end up throwing away when they recover the supply". He stressed the importance of "making the population aware that there are very clear prohibitions, drinking water cannot be used to water gardens, to wash streets, clean cars or fill swimming pools and any non-essential use" .