River Jucar water for Vinalopo agricultural growers

THE Confederación Hidrografica del Jucar (CHJ) will transfer 18 cubic hectometres of water to Alicante province’s Vinalopo área.

The agricultural growers who need this water to irrigate their crops will pay 29 cents for a cubic metre of water, a charge that they said was “acceptable” according to the Spanish media.

The CHJ announcement brings to an end 10 years of disagreements with growers, during which time barely 10 cubic hectometres of water reached the province via the €400 million pipeline.

The agreement, which lasts until December, has been made possible by this year’s exceptionally heavy rainfall which has filled the Jucar basin’s reservoirs to 60 per cent capacity.

In exchange, the CHJ has informed the growers in the Alto, Medio and Bajo Vinalopo, as well as the l’Alacanti areas, that they must reduce by 60 per cent the amount of irrigation water they extract from the Vinalopo’s seriously-depleted wells.

This will not affect water needed for domestic or industrial use, the CHJ said.