The Aiguamolls de l’Empordà are experiencing the worst drought since the natural park was created in 1984. Rainfall records have never before fallen so low and the latest bird census reflects an 80% decrease in the number of wintering birds. .
If the average for the last decade was around 10,000, in the last record, last January, the figure was slightly above 2,000. The most affected by this situation are the ducks. The flooded fields where they came to feed, such as nearby rice fields, are dry and this has caused them to move to other areas in search of food.
Although there are many fewer birds in the Aiguamolls than under normal water conditions, their absence is “punctual” and “the situation will reverse as soon as it rains,” according to park director Sergi Romero. However, the situation is already irreversible for many specimens of aquatic fauna such as fish and amphibians.
The rainfall that would help bring the birds back to the park is long overdue. The generous records that fell yesterday are insufficient, although they help to break a trend of many days without a single drop.
“The situation is quite critical. It would take three temporary periods to fix this situation,” the director explained yesterday. In 2023, only 271 liters per m2 were collected at the park’s meteorological station, the lowest figure in its history. A figure that is far from the 580 liters that have been recorded on average in the last forty years.
The consequences of this water deficit are very obvious to the naked eye. About 300 hectares of one of the two integral nature reserves of the park, the Estanys, which depends mainly on contributions from the Muga river basin, are completely dry. “No one here remembers images of this magnitude,” says Romero.
Where there should be water, there is only dirt and dead vegetation. Some corners like the Vilaüt pond have had an unprecedented appearance for more than two years and in some irrigation ditches there is no longer a trace of fish. “Last summer all the mullets and carp died, the frogs have disappeared,” explains Romero.
Naiads, a species of freshwater bivalve mollusk, have also died, which in this case has turned out to be an invasive species. Reptiles such as the European pond turtle, also present in the park, are more resilient.
In the other integral nature reserve, Les Llaunes, the situation is better since at the moment it receives water contributions from the Fluvià river. Romero fears the consequences that the drought may have on the breeding season of many birds, in spring. Species such as the common gallinet, the mallard or the white heron, among others, usually breed in this area.
“That they cannot do it in their usual place represents stress in their life cycle; “They must look for new places, the reproduction rate can be reduced and individuals can have a lower birth weight as a result of stress,” explains Marc Vilahur, general director of Environmental Policies of the Generalitat.
Asked about the effect of the drought on the Aiguamolls, Vilahur predicts that if it continues for a long time it will affect the entire ecosystem. “If long-term droughts persist, we must accept that biodiversity will be drastically reduced,” he says.
He recognizes that the administration can do little to alleviate the drought in natural spaces. “We cannot artificialize the processes, it is unaffordable to bring water to all the ponds that have remained dry, the management of natural spaces cannot be done from a garden vision. “, it states.
