Board and central government, forced to agree on an emergency matter such as the drought situation in Andalusia. After overcoming the obstacles caused by the drafting of one of the articles of the new Administrative Simplification Law that jeopardized the pact reached between administrations for the protection of Doñana, the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, and the third vice president and minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, have agreed to co-finance the arrival of water by boat to the southern region if the situation becomes complicated in the coming months.
Thus, and in general terms since neither of the two politicians has presented the plan in detail, the central Executive would face the expense of desalinated water as well as the works necessary to put the water into the plants, although the Board would have to take charge of transporting the liquid in ships, since it has been estimated that it would be necessary to receive one ship per day with the capacity to transport 100,000 cubic meters of water.
In total, the head of the Andalusian Government has estimated that this route, which was used as a “last resort”, would cost 5 million euros per month.
The water would arrive by boat from the desalination plants that are now not at full capacity and that are not owned by the State. In this sense, and although Ribera did not want to be more specific after the meeting with Moreno on Thursday afternoon, the precious liquid could come from Murcia, a region with which Andalusia has been negotiating in this regard for some time. The Escombreras Plant, the largest in Spain, could supply the most needy areas of the South. For this, the ports are already preparing both in Carboneras (Almería), as well as in Málaga and Algeciras (Cádiz).
The minister, without identifying at any time from which desalination plant the water that would reach Andalusia would come from as it is an infrastructure that would not belong to Acuamed (Waters of the Mediterranean Basins), has assured that the work of her department is currently aimed at “identify desalination plants that are not at full capacity.”
Ribera has placed the cost of desalinating the water at between 60 and 70 cents per cubic meter, which “that part would be covered by the State”, as well as the transfer of the water to the port, just as has been done with Catalonia from Sagunto ( Valencia).
The Board would face the rest, that is, the transfer by boat, worth 5 million euros per month, with a forecast of 20 million for four months, at least the three summer months, a “flexible” figure that will depend on “ of the agreements we reach” with “the operators,” said President Moreno.
