SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 29 Oct. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Cabildo de Tenerife, through the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten), has tripled the irrigation water supply capacity in the municipalities of Vilaflor de Chasna and San Miguel de Abona.
The island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, explained that in the first half of 2022, 330,168 cubic meters of water were supplied, 280 percent more than in the same period of 2018 (86,690 cubic meters).
In this sense, he stressed that an analysis carried out by Balten reveals that in 2021 817,049 cubic meters supplied were reached (compared to 277,989 in 2018) and it is expected that in 2022 they will exceed 840,000.
Javier Parrilla highlighted “the important collective effort made throughout these three years in office” and assured that these figures “reflect the wisdom and commitment of this Corporation to promote reclaimed water to give greater stability and quality to the water supply of irrigation”.
Since August 2019, Balten has been pumping desalinated water from the Fonsalía seawater desalination station to Lomo del Balo, in Guía de Isora, which has allowed the release of flows of mineral water from the Niágara and Tágara galleries.
“After an intervention in March 2020, we were able to start diverting high-quality water and in much greater quantity to Trevejos, in Vilaflor de Chasna,” explained Parrilla, who wanted to recall that this basin “also required a washing action in 2020 of their land, since, as a result of the quality of the water previously supplied, they had worrying levels of salinity”.
In this regard, Parrilla highlighted that the increase in the volume of water supplied has led to an increase in the area cultivated in the area, especially potatoes.
At the island level, it should also be remembered that, according to the 2021 Crop Map of the Canary Islands, published by the regional Executive, Tenerife has increased its agricultural area by more than 1,000 hectares and reduced its uncultivated area by 2,700 hectares.
