Spain: Drought is threatening drinking water supply in Andalusia

Due to a lack of rain the water level in three of the seven drinking water reservoirs is reaching a critical level. The Andalusian government recently stated the province of Malaga is in pre-alert. Civilians are asked to use water moderately and farmers are irrigating their land every three days.

Before the summer the situation was already serious. This summer many more tourists than expected visited the Andalusian coast and augmented the use of drinking water. The situation is serious but there is still no state of alert. Due to the low levels of the lakes the quality of the water is getting less. Hydrologists are afraid the water will eventually get too salt to use.

Calendar
The Junta de Andalucia is preparing a calendar for restricted water use when it doesn’t rain. The most worrying is the state of Lake Vinuela which is with 59 cubic hectometres at 35% of its capacity. According to national Drought Regulations an alert is needed when the level of the reservoir reaches 49 cubic hectometres, a water level that without rain is expected in December.

Priorities
If the situation is getting worse the government is introducing a priority system, similar to the system they used in 1995. Water is allocated according to the following priorities. Drinking water (1), environment (2), irrigation (3), production of energy (4), industrial use (5), aquaculture (6), recreative use (7) and other use.