Water woes go on in Almanzora Valley

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WATER WOES: Cuevas del Almanzora reservoir. File photograph.

THE Almeria branch of the PSOE Socialist Party has demanded that the Spanish government address the lack of water in the Almanzora Valley.

Thousands of farmers in the area are suffering as drought conditions persist, and spokesperson Sonia Ferrer claimed that the government has failed to respond to concerns first raised before the summer and repeated on several occasions.

“As we predicted, water supplies from the Negratin reservoir in Granada have now been cut,” she said. “This has materialised due to the ineptitude of the Popular Party who have had all summer to resolve the issue.”

The Almanzora Valley has an annual quota of 43 cubic hectometres of water from the Negratin, but this has been temporarily axed by the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation after the El Portillo, San Clemente and La Bolera reservoirs, which lie above it, fell below 30 per cent of capacity.

Ms Ferrer added that the situation is “alarming” since the Almanzora area has also been the victim of other cuts.

“This loss of water is added to the 20 cubic hectometres not received from the Tajo-Segura and the 15 never received from the desalinisation plant in Cueveas de Almanzora which has been broken since 2012,” she said.