For the first time in its 161-year history, the General Community of Regants of the Canals d’Urgell, which supplies 120,000 people and 70,000 agricultural hectares in Lleida, has closed the gates of its main canal. From now on, only water will flow to supply the municipalities and water the trees once a month so they don’t die. The community has put an end to irrigation in April due to the scarcity of water reserves in the Segre, Rialb and Oliana river reservoirs.
Yesterday, before 12 noon, 23 cubic meters of water dropped per second, at 12 noon they dropped twelve and at eight in the afternoon, only two. “Once the irrigation campaign is over, we have to guarantee the supply of the population, we supply 30% of the province of Lleida and also the survival of the trees”, affirms the general director of the Comunitat de Regants del Canals d’ Urgell, Xavier Diaz.
On Monday, a few hours before the gates were closed in Ponts, in the Pla d’Urgell County Council, in Mollerussa, mayors and presidents of the affected counties, Segarra, Urgell, Garrigues, Segrià and Noguera, they agreed on a letter that the neighbors will receive appealing to everyone’s conscience not to waste more water than necessary to avoid restriction measures.
“We want to convey that the most important thing is the responsibility of each person, to get the message across to the whole world, that no one goes unnoticed that we have a critical situation and therefore that people make rational use of water, that they close plus the tapâ€, insists Rafel Panadés, president of the Pla d’Urgell Regional Council, mayor of El Poal and representative, at Casa Canal, of the municipalities that drink water from the Canal d’Urgell.
“The idea is – he adds – to become aware of things like, if you have to wash the car, to turn off the tap while soaping; do not fill small plastic pools daily and use the municipal one; or reuse the water from cleaning the lettuce to water the plantsâ€. The closure of the main canal affects some 50,000 hectares of crops out of the 70,000 that it irrigates. The other 20,000 hectares are not affected by the closure because they receive water from the Noguera Pallaresa river, which is not in such a critical situation.
26,000 hectares of winter cereal will no longer be irrigated, some 6,500 of summer cereal, another 7,500 of alfalfa and the 9,500 of fruit trees will have survival irrigation.
The director of the channel recognizes that the situation is critical. “This is a tragedy. It’s dramatic. The farmers react well because they are good people. But it is as if a worker expects to earn 2,000 euros and does not earn anything or 100 or 200. That is why we have anticipated. We have asked the administrations for help â€, he assures. The president of the channel, Amadeu Ros, insists that it is time for the administrations to turn their heads: “In a few days they will all come to see us, Salvaldor Illa (first secretary of the PSC) has been here; On Thursday, the Minister of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà , and the President of the Generalitat will come, and we have also asked the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, to comeâ€.
Farmers talk about the drama they live. Jaume Pedrós, union member of Unió de Pagesos, produces cereals in Linyola. “An important part of my farm is not going to have income. As always we are asking. This year there is no hope.” Similar situation also in Ivars d’Urgell. Bernat Ramon is 34 years old and grows fruit trees. “It is a situation of sadness and nerves. Now we, the farmers. But it will affect everyone, the scarcity will also be seen in pricesâ€, he affirms.
And in Castellserà , David Borda, a trade unionist and also a fruit producer, laments that the pools fill up and farmers cannot irrigate.
Meanwhile, the Segarra Garrigues canal, with more efficient irrigation, consumes less, these days it has filled its ponds with the hope that the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE) will continue to supply it in May with what they consume and save these reserves for June. They are not guaranteed.
