Malaga plans to reopen old wells as emergency measure to combat drought crisis

In the 1990s, the Guadalhorce Valley wells were used to supply more than four cubic hectometres per year, but stopped being used due to poor water quality

Chus Heredia

Malaga

Friday, 9 February 2024, 07:36

Old wells in the lower Guadalhorce Valley, in the Puente del Rey area, will be reactivated to help combat the effects of drought in Malaga city and the province.

Water company Emasa has contracted professor Bartolomé Andreo, director of the Centro de Hidrogeología (CEHIUMA), to study the emergency drought works required for 24,000 euros. The team has already been working for several weeks, with the aim to bring the aquifer back into production and connect it to the water treatment plant at El Atabal.

The work is included in the fourth drought decree, published in the region's Official Gazette (BOJA) on February 1. The investment will therefore be assumed by the Junta de Andalucía.

In the 1990s, the wells were used by Emasa to supply more than four cubic hectometres per year (that would be approximately 10 per cent of the city's annual consumption). However, they stopped being used due to poor water quality.

The whole of the lower Guadalhorce Valley forms a system of aquifers covering some 270 square kilometres. Over the years, numerous boreholes were drilled in the area to investigate the aquifers in the area.

There are some 152 water points in the area, of which 10 were piezometers (research boreholes to measure water levels below), 83 boreholes for use and 59 large wells. Most were located on the right bank of the Guadalhorce Valley.

The piezometers are located at depths of up to 100 metres, while the boreholes are less than 50 metres and could provide flow rates of around 40 litres per second. The wells are up to three metres wide and 20 metres deep.

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Malaga plans to reopen old wells as emergency measure to combat drought crisis