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Cars trapped at the access to Puerto Banús on Monday night. Josele
Downpours deposit up to 130mm of rain in parts of Malaga province but storm leaves other areas almost untouched
Weather

Downpours deposit up to 130mm of rain in parts of Malaga province but storm leaves other areas almost untouched

Only one reservoir in the province has so far managed to increase its levels, although a yellow warning for more heavy rain remains in place until lunchtime today in Malaga city, western Costa del Sol, Guadalhorce and Ronda areas

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Wednesday, 16 October 2024, 10:36

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Malaga's water scarcity situation is still at a crisis point despite the recent rains, as most of it has fallen along the coast and not over the province's reservoirs.

The only exception is the reservoir of La Concepción near Marbella, which supplies the western Costa del Sol. It has been able to increase its levels over the past few days as downpours fell across the westernmost part of the province. This dam is fed by four sources: the main stream, the Río Verde, and a triple transfer from three diversion reservoirs; Guadalmina, Guadaiza and Guadalmansa.

In the Guadalmansa, the Junta de Andalucía's Hidrosur monitoring network measured more than 130mm of rain falling in just 48 hours. The nearby Guadalmina also received a considerable amount, 95mm. In both cases, the water is being channelled to the main reservoir for storage. As a result, La Concepción has exceeded the level it had last week to 23.30 cubic hectometres, which is 40.4% of its total capacity. This figure will continue to rise rapidly in the coming hours due to runoff from the recent rains.

Rest of Malaga's reservoirs

Other areas that recorded significant rainfall in the province were Pujerra in the Serranía de Ronda, with 95.2mm; Los Reales (83mm) and the river Genal (69mm), according to Hidrosur records. The majority of the rainfall was concentrated on the north-western slopes of the province, the part closest to Cadiz, and passed over the rest of Malaga province, but without much impact. Meanwhile, in the Axarquía, 49mm was collected in Alfarnatejo and 42mm in Alcaucín, which helped add 14mm to La Viñuela.

As for the Guadalhorce, 24mm was recorded in Fahala and 22mm in Archidona; while the large reservoirs (Guadalhorce, Conde and Guadalteba) recorded just 10mm. The reservoirs supplying Malaga city and Axarquia have continued to lose water during this rainy spell. With the exception of La Concepción, all of them are a few tenths below the level they had last week; with the overall figure on Tuesday 15 October at 95.5 cubic hectometres, compared to 96.4 on 8 October.

'In Malaga, floods are needed to alleviate the drought, and they haven't happened,' said the president of Asaja.

Asaja Malaga president Baldomero Bellido said it is still too early to make an assessment, as it is still only the first of the rains to fall. "In Malaga, floods are needed to alleviate the drought, and they have not happened. What's more, the rain has been uneven and in some areas very little has fallen," he added.

Bellido predicted little benefit for the crops following the recent rains. "We can think of the crop benefit for livestock, and table olives can give a boost to gain some weight. But the aloreña variety for oil production is 90% lost, and the sub-tropicals are not improving either; the situation is hardly any better."

The good news is that the wet weather is not yet over and it will continue to rain at least until Thursday. Aemet forecasts showers, although lighter than those of Monday night, Wednesday (yellow warning) and half of Thursday.

"Rain will continue until Wednesday lunchtime, and there is even a chance of showers in the early hours of Thursday morning. By this I don't mean that it will be raining for 48 hours straight," said José Luis Escudero, a weather expert from Malaga, writing on his SUR blog Tormentas y Rayos. "Ex-hurricane Leslie will bring lines of instability that will affect the province of Malaga unevenly in the form of showers, but there will even be times when we see the sun. In addition, on Thursday the province will probably be crossed by a front, and there is a likelihood of rainbows when that happens," he said.

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