LATEST measures to combat water shortages caused by the drought in Malaga province are including overnight cuts and pressure restrictions.
Authorities have set a maximum water usage of 160 litres per resident each day on the the Costa del Sol, Axarquia and Malaga.
This measure is in addition to those already implemented in the province over recent months.
Over 15 municipalities have had night-time water cuts for weeks with cuts running for up to 14 hours, while others have had overnight pressure reductions.
The Junta has already warned that if the situation did not improve, tankers would have to be deployed during the summer to ship in water to Malaga.
The maximum of 160 litres per day per inhabitant is one of the new measures implemented by the Drought Management committee of the Andalucian Mediterranean Basins.
Among the restrictions is the ban on drinking water for street washing, filling private swimming pools, watering gardens, public and private parks, golf courses, car washes outside authorized establishments, ornamental fountains that do not have a closed water circuit, showers and public pumps.
These are for areas declared as having an exceptional drought including the Western Costa del Sol, Guadalhorce-Limonero and Axarquía-Viñuela.
Most of the towns suffering overnight cuts are in the Axarquia.
The time at which supplies are cut depends on the speed at which tanks are filled, which is why in some areas it is cut off at midnight, others at 10.00pm, and some towns even earlier if necessary.
In the Axarquia, water cuts have been going on for months.
Residents of the municipality of Velez-Malaga (which includes the towns of Velez-Malaga, Torre del Mar, Almayate, Benajarafe, Cajiz, Caleta de Velez, Chilches, Lagos, Mezquitilla, Trapiche, Triana and Valle-Niza), have cuts that run between 11.00pm through to 8.30am.
Rincon de la Victoria also has restrictions, with nightly water cuts between 11:00pm and 7.00am.
The municipality of Periana, located above the La Viñuela reservoir, has cuts in its urban area between 11.00pm and 7.00am while in the 10 villages that make up the municipality, supplies only run between 7.00am and 9.00pm.
In the Axarquia, several villages also have overnight cuts, including Sedella between midnight and 7.00am, though the restriction only runs on certain days, depending on the state of water reserves..
Outside the Axarquia there are also daily cuts in Casabermeja, Villanueva de la Concepcion and Valle de Abdalajís.
In the latter municipality, residents have access from 7.00 am midday and from 5.00pm to 10.00pm.
There is no municipality cutting supplies on the Western Costa del Sol, but water pressure is being reduced overnight in Fuengirola and Benalmadena.
Malaga City is also set to introduce a similar measure soon.
The Association of Property Administrators of Malaga and Melilla says that pressure reductions will affect homes on top floors, mainly in tall and older buildings, possibly causing some appliances to stop working.
Association president, Manuel Jimenez, said the measure is ‘necessary’ given the state of drought but added that pressure reductions will affect communities where owners are elderly and more vulnerable.
READ MORE:
