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Ignacio Lillo
Mlaga
Friday, 22 November 2024, 16:25
Sorry to be a party-pooper, but the drought is not over. It's rained a lot, but the situation is still quite bad. Malaga city is in the worst situation at the moment, because the reservoirs in the Guadalhorce and Guadalteba system, which are its main sources of supply, have only gained a few million cubic metres.
The Costa del Sol is in a much better situation and can half celebrate. In the Axarquía the situation has also improved but not enough to allow farmers to use water from La Viñuela reservoir for irrigation, and for now only household use is guaranteed, which is a lot considering this is the driest district in the province of Malaga.
In global terms, now there is as much water as there was just after Easter, only that the outlook is better, because ahead of us we still have key rainy periods of the year, which could be December, January, February and March. It should still rain; let's hope for one of those good fronts, with rain that pleases everyone, with water that goes where it's needed and lasts for several days. We don't need any more capricious 'Danas' that rain aggressively and randomly.
Really, I'm embarrassed that we have to keep doing metaphysical analyses and running round in mental circles about whether this winter will, finally, be rainy after six practically dry years. Whether we'll have to keep looking up for clouds, although the modern way now is to scrutinise forecast models. If the European version gives a lot of rain and the American not a drop, let's see which is right. No. We are still in a drought period, but the worse thing is we are still waiting for work and infrastructure that will mean we can stop depending on the rain to be able to drink and irrigate.
We still don't have the Vélez desalination plant and neither can we expect it, at least not in the mid-term. The government promised it but doesn't have the resolve to do anything about it. At least not in Malaga, but it does in Catalonia, as always. We also need a second plant to convert sea water for drinking on the Costa del Sol. It's a hopeful sign that engineers are once again calling for the Cerro Blanco dam, which would have a double function: to take in water from the Río Grande; and solve the problem of flooding in the valley and the city when the Guadalhorce swells. The Junta de Andalucía is clear about it and has revisited the paperwork after it spending 20 years at the bottom of a drawer. While I'm delighted that they are taking those steps, I still feel like a party pooper as I doubt very much that we'll see it.
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