Malaga water reserves: from drought to dangerous upper limits

Malaga province is experiencing an unprecedented water refill this winter, with reservoirs having to open their sluice gates to prevent flooding.

This forces authorities to make urgent, real-time decisions for a network that is known for suffering from long-lasting droughts.

In periods of such intense rainfall, dam technicians must find the optimum point between supply demands and safety thresholds. Draining the reservoirs also involves measuring and controlling what happens downstream, with floodgates strategically opening and closing.

While Malaga's reserves were below 100 million cubic metres a year and a half ago, now they are approaching 500.

The paradox of the province's relationship with water is that now terms such as 'safety threshold' are gaining more prominence than the word 'drought'.

So much water has recently entered Malaga province's dams, that levels have kept rising in some of them, even as they are releasing water. Four reservoirs were draining on Wednesday, but the Guadalteba has now joined them at 90% of its capacity.

All dams have operating rules that set maximum filling levels. The La Concepción dam now has a safeguard of 19%. In other words, it is at 81% capacity. It continues releasing water to maintain its level at around 48 million cubic metres.

Filling it more would be dangerous, given the large inflows from the Verde and the triple transfer Guadaiza-Guadalmina-Guadalmansa. "Yesterday, the volume dropped a little, today it has risen again, we are constantly adjusting so that there is no issue," technical sources told SUR.

The safeguard in Casasola, supplied by the Campanillas river, is almost at 22%. On Thursday, drainage will take place to also combat the serious problem of sedimentation.

The other safety dam, El Limonero, has also opened its sluice gates and shows a very similar level of safety margin.

The Guadalhorce reservoir has a more than sufficient margin to control possible floods, with a buffer of 35%. It is connected to the Guadalteba reservoir, which has risen above 91% and has begun to release water. The same applies to the Conde de Guadalhorce, which receives water from the Turón river. In this case, it will only cease to release water if there is too much of a rise in the level downstream.

The province's seven reservoirs are on their way to 80% of their full capacity, compared to 45% in November (276 million cubic metres). During the pandemic, the province's reservoirs had reached 414.