Drought latest in Spain: Reservoir levels climb towards 30% in Andalucia after recent rainfall

THE recent heavy rains in Andalucia have managed to give the region’s reservoirs a small uplift as the tourist season begins.

As of Monday, the reservoirs across the entire region now stand at 29.77% capacity after 29 million litres of rain fell over the previous week.

Although it is an increase of only 0.37%, another week of unsettled and rainy weather is forecast – to muted grumbles from the Semana Santa pageantry organisers.

Malaga has seen 1.7 million litres of rainfall bump its water stocks to a still worrisome 18.7%, while Cadiz saw a healthy 4.2 million litres, replenishing its lakes to 22.5%.

Crisis-stricken Almeria is still deep in the red, however, with its reservoirs standing at 8.2% capacity after only 200,000 litres of rain fell.

The drought situation across Spain is highly uneven, with Andalucia and Catalonia suffering immensely even as reservoirs across the country stand at a collective 57.8%. 

In Galicia, on the Atlantic coast, they are positively bursting, at 87%.

Despite the generally positive news, the Minister of Sustainability and Environment for Andalucia, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, warned against complacency.

He emphasised the grave threat the drought poses to Andalucia’s economy and overall growth, and boasted that the Junta has approved of over a thousand water-related initiatives, including 111 completed hydraulic infrastructures and 90 ongoing projects, since 2019.

READ MORE:

Subscribe to the Olive Press

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *