The president of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE), María Dolores Pascual, has said that irrigators will have to start irrigation campaigns, again with restrictions. Despite describing the management of the situation this year as “reasonably satisfactory”, Pascual said that “we are not in a good situation.”
However, despite insisting that it is risky to make predictions because it is not known what autumn and winter will be like, he sees it as difficult for the conditions of 2023 to be repeated. Within the framework of a conference on drought organized by the Unión de Campesinos (UP ) to the San Miquel Fair in Lleida, the national coordinator of the organization, Joan Caball, has asked that irrigators be informed at all times of the situation.
Pascual has highlighted that 20% of the Ebro basin is in a situation of prolonged drought and 10% in an emergency situation; specifically the Segre and the lower Ebro. It must be added that the situation of the Noguera Ribagorzana is also complicated and will soon also enter an emergency.
According to Pascual, it has a large storage capacity and this summer it has watered the crops but now it needs contributions. 40% of the basin is on alert and 50% in a “compromised” situation. Pascual has said that they do not know what the next campaign will be like and that they trust that the autumn will be rainy, but the average reserves are below the last 5 years. Despite everything, the situation at this time is better than last year.
The president of CHE also recalled that the drought not only affects irrigation but many other sectors. When the situation worsened, a call was made to municipalities in the basin to save water and Pascual has stated that “their homework has been done” to the extent of the possibilities of each area.
The control of spills to avoid contamination of aquifers has also been a point in favor and the control system for compliance with ecological flows has allowed them to be met in 85 and 90% of cases despite the drought. .
Absolute plenary session this Friday to attend the conference on drought and irrigation organized by UP within the framework of the 69th edition of the San Miquel Fair. In addition to the president of CHE, there were representatives of all the irrigation communities that irrigate the Lleida district: the Pinyana canal, the Aragón and Catalonia canal, the Algerri-Balaguer canal, the Segarra-Garrigues canal and the Urgell.
Everyone has reviewed and taken stock of a campaign that they have not hesitated to describe as the most complicated in history. Likewise, they have also agreed in placing the beginning of this drought situation in the 2022 campaign, which has not improved during 2023.
The president of the Aragon and Catalonia canal, José Luis Pérez, has assured that they have been able to meet between 70 and 75% of the irrigation needs but that, on the contrary, 50% of the second harvests have not been able to be done. They estimate that there are about 15,000 hectares of corn, which in money represents losses of about 60 MEUR.
Pérez said that the community has received aid from Europe to be able to digitalize irrigation with an investment of 7 MEUR and that this has to save water but at the same time, guarantee the generational change of the sector. This community has not yet finished the current campaign and plans to do so by October 8.
For his part, the president of the Segarra-Garrigues canal, Josep Maria Jové, recalled that this year’s campaign already began with scarce conditions of 97 cubic hectometers between Rialb and Oliana. After starting in March, in one month, the reserves dropped to 47 hectometers and then irrigation had to be closed.
According to Jové, the most affected have been the farmers who grow winter cereals in the northern area of ??the canal, also in Verdú in the vineyard area and in Castelldans in woody crops such as almond trees. Likewise, he has regretted that the second harvests, which are one of the “attractions” of this channel, have been lost.
The director of the Urgell channel, Xavier Díaz, has also recalled that the end of the 2022 campaign was already complicated and that was then when they began to apply restrictions. In October they warned at a General Assembly that the drought could be persistent and it has been.
Despite everything, he highlighted that it has been possible to water the trees and save production while spending 12.5% ??less of the water that had been reserved for this objective. Now there are only 45 hectometers of water available for irrigation, which represents 10% of the real possibilities of the Urgell canal.
