Problems are accumulating in an Ebro delta in an already critical situation, without recorded precedents, due to the scarcity of fresh water in the rice fields and bays, and the persistent drought. With the Ebrense rice growers crossing their fingers to be able to complete the cycle of the rice plant and start harvesting the cereal in a few days, a hailstorm has fallen. The meteorological phenomenon, rare in the wetland, has caused localized but very severe damage to some 600 hectares of rice fields.
It is too soon to accurately quantify the losses caused by the hail that fell on Montsià on Saturday afternoon. The experts of the insurance companies are now assessing on the ground the affectation of the hailstorm, with hail the size of free-range hen eggs, in some cases almost the size of a fist.
By chance, the most damaged area, between La Ràpita and the center of Poble Nou del Delta (Amposta), in the Montsià region, is also the one in the most critical situation due to the lack of irrigation water and the rise in salinity in rice fields. “We could say that it has rained here; ground zero, where there is more hail damage, is where there was already more damage due to problems derived from drought and salinity”, laments Albert Pons, rice farmer and head of the rice sector of Unió de Pagesos (UP).
The affectation in the 600 hectares of damaged rice fields is irregular. The bomba rice variety, the one that begins to be harvested earlier, and therefore more mature, has been the most affected. In some paddy fields the entire crop has been lost to no harvest, while in others half or more of the paddy may be saved. “These are assessments that are beginning to be made now. A quick and urgent appraisal is needed, and that the rice farmer can reap”, adds Pons (UP). In this way, it will be possible to try to save the part that has not been destroyed by the hail on each farm.
One more obstacle in an Ebro delta in check due to the drought since spring, with half the irrigation water since the end of April and a minimal respite with the scant rains in May and June. The number of hectares affected, over 600, is yet another blow to the already touched morale of a sector, that of rice, essential for the Ebrense wetland. More than 20,000 hectares of rice are cultivated every year, a key part of the local economy. Some 300 more hectares of the right hemidelta were already considered lost before the hailstorm due to lack of irrigation and excessive salinization.
The fresh water that floods the rice fields each year is also essential for the fragile delta ecosystem. The flooded rice fields attract a good part of the 365 species of birds that pass each year through one of the most biodiverse wetlands in southern Europe. The fresh water that irrigates the rice fields circulates through the kilometer-long network of canals of the two hemideltas, to the right and left of the Ebro River until it reaches its mouth. Irrigation water also feeds the bays, one of the key pieces of delta biodiversity, in natural enclaves with maximum environmental protection.
