The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Javier Parrilla, has assured this Friday that irrigation water for farmers in the south of the island is guaranteed.
Currently, the island corporation details in a statement, the regenerated water deposits are between 70% and 90% of their capacity, and that of the reservoirs at 50%.
Parrilla, who is also the head of the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten), points out that at times like the present, when the island is experiencing a dry winter and rainfall rates are low, “regenerated water allows us to reach at more stable levels, providing peace of mind” to farmers by having guaranteed irrigation.
The reservoirs in the south of Tenerife are at 66% of their capacity and those in the north at 43%, although this index is affected by the Benijos pond, whose waterproofing is being prepared.
Currently, Tenerife’s agricultural water supply system consists of 21 storage ponds, with a total capacity of more than five million cubic meters.
Of these, 3.4 million are stored on the north side and approximately 1.6 on the south side.
That is why, says Javier Parrilla, in this area of the island, for years, they have been betting on purified water. Now, with the new purification systems, there is talk of reclaimed water, applying tertiary treatments that allow obtaining “optimal water with certified health safety for any type of agriculture,” the councilor stresses.
Emphasizes that with the expansion of the Adeje-Arona wastewater treatment station, the volume of treated water has doubled, while with the expansion of the Buenos Aires plant in Santa Cruz, it is expected to reach 22,000 cubic meters of water up to date.
In addition, remember that the island corporation with ACUAES plans to complete in the coming years the new WWTP of the West of Guía de Isora Santiago del Teide, Arona Este-San Miguel, Acentejo, Granadilla de Abona and Valle de la Orotava, as well as the regional one of the Güímar Valley and Granadilla. All of this will allow the incorporation of some 72,000 cubic meters of reclaimed water per day on the southern slope of the island, and 5,000 cubic meters on the northern slope.
In addition, the expansion of the irrigation network with purified water in the southwest of the island, the first section of branch 4 of the Adeje and Santiago del Teide irrigation system, a water infrastructure that will benefit a cultivated area of 77 hectares and it is estimated that it releases 1.13 cubic hectometres of white water per year.
The signing of an agreement with the State Commercial Society of Agricultural Infrastructures (SEIASA) is planned to complement the network of purified water for irrigation in the southwest of Tenerife, so that the entire lower part of the midlands up to the southern coast of the island can have “high-quality” reclaimed water available.
