The Council of Tenerife will immediately place two portable desalination plants to guarantee irrigation water for crops in the municipalities of Buenavista del Norte, Los Silos and Garachico, which make up Isla Baja. It is the first emergency measure of the Island Corporation to appease the water crisis suffered by the Island and especially agriculture and livestock in this part of the North. In just 24 hours, The Cabildo gives a first response to the alert launched on Thursday by the Association of Farmers and Ranchers of Canary Islands (Asaga), who requested more water to guarantee the subsistence of the Tenerife crops, especially on Isla Baja, affected by the heat wave and the drought.
The two portable treatment plants are similar to those used during the volcanic crisis on La Palma, they reported Manuel FernandezIsland Councilor for Industry, Commerce, the Primary Sector and Animal Welfare, and Valentín gonzalez, CEO of the Primary Sector and Animal Welfare. These are two mobile plants that will generate 2,000 cubic meters of water per day and that will be installed on land in the municipality of Los Silos that is ceded by the company SAT Dóniz, dedicated to the production of fruit. This solution will force the Island Corporation to make an economic effort, since the cost of the desalination plants is around one million euros and was not provided for in the budgets.
Supply regulations
Manuel Fernández and Valentín González explained that it is an “urgent” response to the extreme temperatures, the drought – exacerbated this summer by two consecutive heat waves – and the consequent decrease in dammed water, which is causing serious damage to the Tenerife countryside. In the case of Isla Baja, the water deficit of previous years has worsened, for which reason the island officials consider that it has become necessary “to apply regulations in the supply to farmers to be able to modulate storage, supported by the regulatory capacity of several ponds”.
The portable desalination plants, which will be installed next week, are the first emergency measure, but there will be more. Balsas de Tenerife (Balten) has signed an agreement with the Tenerife Island Water Council (Ciatf), both entities dependent on the Cabildo, to support the irrigation water supply service through the brackish water desalination station of El Reventón, in the municipality of Icod de Los Vinos. The work schedule will make it possible to start up this desalination plant in the next campaign.
golf course water
The insular Government is also studying other proposals put forward by the Association of Farmers and Ranchers of Tenerife. For example, allocating part of the water from the golf course desalination plant to the population, which would free the La Monja desalination plant, both facilities located in Buenavista del Norte, and allocate its production to cover the irrigation needs of exclusively, since at present part is destined to urban supply. Valentín González, CEO of the Primary Sector, assures that he has already held conversations with the managers of the golf course to involve them in solving the problem.
“We are going to continue working to give all the facilities to the Tenerife countryside in the face of the serious adversities caused by the drought and high temperatures,” said González, who clarified that he has been in contact with the representatives of the primary sector “since day one” that took office on June 27. “We are counting on the opinion of the entire agricultural sector to face the problems derived from the scarcity of water and high temperatures, which have already caused damage to crops,” added the CEO.
It will be more difficult to resolve immediately the situation of the Taco Mountain raft, located between Buenavista del Norte and Los Silos. Asaga also relates the problems to the recent work to waterproof this reservoir, the largest on the island with a capacity of 900,000 cubic meters of irrigation water. “After the repair carried out, there has not been time to fill it due to the high consumption derived from the high temperatures registered since March,” said the group of professionals from the primary sector.
Taco Mountain Raft
In this regard, Valentín González, who was mayor of San Miguel de Abona, points out that “the works to waterproof the Taco Mountain pond were done when they had to be done but, now that they have finished, there has not been time for It will fill with water due to the lack of rainfall and the heat wave.” The counselor of PP makes it clear that “the Cabildo is going to deploy all the necessary efforts to support a vital sector for Tenerife and the Canary Islands: the countryside.”
