Representatives from the regional government and Nerja town hall at the Chíllar river last Friday e. cabezas

Transfer from Nerja’s Chíllar river to Axarquía reservoir begins

Two wells will provide almost three cubic hectometres of water per year

Wednesday, 30 November 2022, 22:52

The transfer of water from the river Chíllar in Nerja to La Viñuela reservoir started last Friday (25 November) to help the drought stricken Axarquía area. Fourteen towns and villages and a population of some 220,000 inhabitants depend on the reservoir for water. However, with no rainfall and the dam at a historic low of 9.2 per cent capacity, water is having to be brought in from other sources, including the Nerja river and reservoirs in Malaga city.

Work to connect the wells began almost two decades ago during the drought of 1995 and has been completed in the last five years. Between them the two underground reserves have enough water to supply up to 5.2 cubic hectometres of water per year. However, of this amount, 1.5 hectometres corresponds to well number one, which supplies the 21,000 registered inhabitants of Nerja, a figure that quadruples in the summer season.

As such, the regional government’s current water plan, which is in place until September 2023, foresees that almost 2.9 cubic hectometres can be transferred to the La Viñuela system, starting with 85 litres per second, increasing to 100 in the summer months.