«They will be four winters with this year without repairing the pipe that channels part of the water from the Santos ravinewhich collects all of La Laguna and Las Mercedes and even the Los Rodeos airport, to the pools of Valle Molina (Tegueste) and El Boquerón (Valle de Guerra), which are empty. It is the complaint of the farmers of the Northeast region of the Island in the midst of the water crisis. This infrastructure supplies water from rain and runoff to the countryside in areas such as Valle de Guerra, Tejina, both in the municipality of La Laguna, Tegueste or Tacoronte.
The sources reflect: «56 cubic hectometers of water are lost in the distribution networks, while 53 are desalinated and regenerated. There is already a more than evident deficit. Furthermore, they add, “this means that losses in networks are covered with energy expenditure resulting from burning oil.” They demand that they “urgently solve this fault” because it does not allow water to be collected from the Vega lagunera and the Las Mercedes Valley, two of the points with the highest rainfall in Tenerifein the Barranco de Santos, near La Higuerita, in the La Cuesta neighborhood.
The complaint is accompanied by images. There are no fallen stones or bumps on the pipe, although the farmers point out that “they cannot be ruled out due to the time that has passed since the breakage.” What is observed is “the loss of material in the foundation and coverage of the pipeline, which causes the consequent sagging of the pipeline” summary before specifying: “It is necessary to declare priority the emergency work that allows us to collect such a precious and necessary natural resource for the agriculture of our region.”
It is “the largest runoff basin on the Island,” as engineer José Braojos recently assessed in a conference on water management. “There have been years without urgent action in the primary sector as is done, for example, in roads. And winter comes again. This must be resolved now,” they say.
Ana Sánchez, manager of Rafts of Tenerife (Balten), indicates that “the administrative process to repair the fault began in March 2022.” It consists of drafting the project and bidding. Sánchez points out that “there are two successful bidders because the work is divided into two areas: the stabilization of the slope on the pipeline, and the repair itself.” Both works have been awarded and contracted. Sánchez concludes: “The work will begin as soon as the necessary material arrives to undertake it.”
