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Date Published: 23/02/2022

ARCHIVED - Murcia water reserves at one-third capacity due to lack of rainfall

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Hopes are pinned on wet weather this weekend to fill up water supplies in Murcia’s Segura basin reservoirs

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Murcia water reserves at one-third capacity due to lack of rainfall

Water reserves in the reservoirs of the Segura basin have fallen to just 385 cubic hectometres (hm3), which is seven fewer than last week and a worrying state of affairs for water supplies in the Region of Murcia.

The reservoirs are running out of water because of the lack of rainfall in Spain in recent months, which is not usual for this time of year. This January was the sixth driest month of the 21st century in Murcia with some of the warmest temperatures in 38 years.

In February, Murcia’s Segura basin reservoirs normally hold around 507hm3 of water, but this year they are almost 25% below this level, and are at 33.8% of their total capacity.

In the rest of Spain, water reserves are at 44.3% of their total capacity with a current supply of 24,868hm3, having lost 14hm3 in the last week.

So far, there are no hosepipe bans in place for private citizens, but for weeks now restrictions have been in place to limit water usage by farms and industrial companies.

It is hoped that rains forecast across Spain at the end of this week will do something to replenish the water supplies, but it may not be enough of a deluge before the unseasonably warm weather returns.

Illegal water usage

Perversely, at the same time as there is a water shortage in Murcia, excess water continues to run off from farms around the Campo de Cartagena and into the Mar Menor, continuing to pollute the lagoon with nitrates and chlorophyll.

Environmental authorities have shut off water supplies to over 1,000 hectares of farms that have been watering their crops illegally.

Image: Archive

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