Guadalhorce Valley increases irrigation allocations but its supply network is old and in need of urgent repairs

Water welfare

The regional ministry of agriculture has prepared a million-euro budget to address the network's shortcomings

Chus Heredia

The precarious state of the irrigation systems in the Guadalhorce Valley is a long-standing issue for water management in the province of Málaga. In fact, it was one of the key problems left unresolved in the now-repealed 2001 national hydrological plan. Today, the fragile state of the network, worsened by recent torrential rains and storms, has further damaged an already vulnerable system.

Meanwhile, local farmers have been granted a water allocation similar to pre-drought levels: 34 million cubic metres (plus an additional three million if October is included), which is expected to be approved at the next drought committee meeting. This volume is equivalent to the annual water needs of a population of half a million people.

Technical sources from the regional government told SUR that the Guadalhorce and Guadalteba reservoirs will open their bottom drains to release water for irrigation.

The first deliveries arrived on 20 April, but widespread breakdowns initially prevented the irrigation of not much more than 3,000 of the area's 10,000 hectares. Currently, water from the reservoirs is reaching just over 8,000 hectares. However, according to the agricultural association Aprema, key infrastructure - such as the Cártama siphon - remains damaged, while other sections are still undergoing cleaning.

This year, all three of the area's reservoirs are practically at 100 per cent capacity. According to the Hidrosur network, the Guadalhorce and Guadalteba reservoirs were completely full on Tuesday, while the Conde de Guadalhorce reservoir was at around 93 per cent capacity. Together, they hold more than 341 million cubic metres of water.

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