Current state of reservoirs in the Community described as ‘dramatic’ by Junta de Andalucia

Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, a spokesman for the Junta de Andalucia described the current state of the reservoirs in the Community as ‘dramatic’.

Speaking on Thursday, April 6, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, the minister of Sustainability and spokesman for the Andalucian government, said that the data on the levels of the reservoirs in Andalucia cannot be described as “anything other than dramatic” as none of the basins currently reaches 30 per cent of their capacity.

“Andalucia today has more than 500 cubic hectometres less than we had the same week last year”, the minister stressed during an institutional visit to the town hall of Gador in Almería.

He continued: “We have been experiencing a series of months in which it has hardly rained and this has had a series of consequences that we are all noticing. In the agricultural sector, it is more evident, but also in the natural environments themselves that are suffering from this drought, as well as for industry and tourism”.

Fernández-Pacheco stressed that water is “fundamental” for Andalucia. Given the state of the reservoirs, the responsible public administrations can only “invest, invest and invest in infrastructures that make us more resistant to this drought situation”, he emphasised, as reported by laopiniondemalaga.es.

“The Junta de Andalucia has already implemented two drought decrees. We are working on a third decree that will come out imminently, on a plan of solutions and works against drought with a budget of €4,000 million”, he added. The minister maintained that hydraulic infrastructures are the “engine” that pulls public works in the region.

He also referred to climate change and its effects, such as the lack of rain and the high temperatures that are being recorded in an “unusual way for the time of year”. All of this contributes to a greater risk of forest fires he pointed out.

Although he asserted that the Junta de Andalucia’s Plan Infoca was prepared for “any contingency that may arise”, he recalled that last week he himself signed an order banning all burning in forest environments, to avoid risks.

Nevertheless, he said that the “main weapon that Andalucian society has to deal with forest fires is the responsibility of each and every one of us. The main weapon is good sense and common sense, collective responsibility. Therefore, I am confident that people are going to do it, and that we are going to have a peaceful Easter Week. We will be continually reviewing all these measures to be prepared to make it difficult for fire in forest environments”, he concluded.

___________________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.