The water reserve for irrigation has decreased by more than 30% in Tenerife over the past year, leaving the reservoirs at almost 40% capacity. The level of concern in the primary sector on the island is such that if the lack of rain persists, “we will have a serious food problem”. Potato and banana productions are the ones facing the most serious risk, and the outlook is not optimistic.
The extreme drought situation or declaration of a water emergency that the Tenerife Island Council is about to agree on implies taking urgent measures to mitigate the effects of water scarcity before the arrival of summer. “We are facing a critical situation, with the reservoirs at a level never before recorded” after a “dramatic year, to the extent that in February, there are areas with water restrictions for irrigation.”
Theo Hernando, the general secretary of the Association of Farmers and Ranchers of Canarias (Asaga), is calling for “immediate actions” on the part of the island’s Corporation by implementing some of the measures included in the 14 agreements reached by the sector and the island government. “They are trying to scrape a few cubic meters from certain infrastructures throughout the island, but the key is to expedite the construction of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife purification plant, which is vital for diverting water to the South and the North,” Hernando argues.
Theo Hernando Olmo, general secretary of Asaga. | | CARSTEN W. LAURITSEN / J. A. Medina
Desperation among farmers leads them to propose a measure similar to the one applied between Sagunto (Valencia) and Catalonia – there for domestic consumption – “using ships to bring desalinated water that would be injected into the pumping network from Santa Cruz to the Valle Molina reservoir in Tegueste, in order to keep it at a higher level than it is now.”
Among the crops harvested in the Tenerife countryside, “potato producers are extremely concerned, because we will face a quite problematic situation if the current temperatures persist. A harvest at 40% is already being discussed”. The same goes for bananas, as the heat shortens the cycles and brings the productions closer, thus “it drives down the price” of the fruit. The difficulties are already being felt. “Packaging is in full swing to produce around 9.5 million kilos per week, but with these temperatures, it is a problem,” Theo Hernando Olmo maintains.
The urgency in carrying out actions to mitigate the effects of the impending drought in Tenerife agriculture requires promptness in materialising the proposed works. “The situation is grim. If there is no water in the fields, there is no food, and we are screwed with empty stomachs,” reflects Manuel Marrero. At almost 77 years old, the president of the regional cooperative Cumbres de Abona (Arico) has been demanding infrastructure for over 30 years to ensure water for agricultural use, “especially in the midlands, where the Islands’ pantry is located, with vegetables, fruit trees, livestock… On the coast, there are export crops, such as bananas, tomatoes, papayas, and avocados.”
We shouldn’t have to wait until summer, “right now, the farmer will receive water in three months, when the crop has already been lost”. The olive groves of Cumbres de Abona will produce 247,000 kilos this year, a crop that has been recovered in recent years, in which Tenerife is the main producer in the Canary Islands. In this context, “we will have to start abandoning the olive grove due to a lack of water.”
Marrero Reyes is convinced that “there is no water due to a lack of political will,” and asserts that “the reusable water is being wasted, and desalination is not being carried out to the necessary extent to provide water to the midlands. A lifelong farmer, his solution is “simple: to install a desalination plant in the Granadilla Industrial Estate and by pushing it into the intermediate canal, the entire midlands are covered. It’s an easy problem to solve”.
In the case of cereal production, which is concentrated in the North and Northwest of Tenerife – between the municipalities of La Orotava and El Tanque – the water shortage is causing extreme concern. “Horrible” is the term used by Isabel Cabrera, president of the Tenerife Cereal Federation (Acete), to describe the situation. “Horrible, in all senses,” she emphasizes. She explains it simply: “We sow the wheat, and as soon as it starts to grow, it starts to dry up because there is no rain.”
The method that has been used “for the whole life” in cereal production (especially wheat) on the island barely involves the use of water for irrigation, but the use of rainfall. Hence, the majority of the farms – especially those located in higher areas – do not have an irrigation network, but in those that do, “we do not have water for irrigation either”. In any case, “we cannot achieve a harvest based on irrigation because it would be too expensive”.
February and the first few days of March are the periods of the year when wheat is sown. “In my case, I’m waiting until the end of the month to see if there is any dew to sow it because if not, it won’t grow,” explains Isabel Cabrera. “If the weather continues like this, we don’t know what we will be able to do. Last year was bad for us, but if this continues for a couple of years agriculture will be over, in general”. The president of Acete will promote a meeting with the relevant authorities to discuss specific solutions for this subsector.
“If it doesn’t rain, we will have a serious, serious food problem,” says farmer Blas Manuel González, for whom the current situation presents “a bigger problem than is thought. It is necessary to seek alternatives, and as of today, there are no positive responses from the authorities”. The lack of water affects a sector “that produces food with higher costs”.
The lack of rain makes pasture more expensive, “and it has to be imported, the inputs have a higher cost, the direct aids are good for now but will lead to scarcity in the future… During the pandemic, we were necessary, but afterwards, we were forgotten. The major importers have a monopoly in the Canaries. We need to sit down and talk, and soon,” he concluded.
