SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 20. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cabildo of La Gomera has declared a water emergency on the Island, due to the special situation of drought, due to the continued lack of rainfall and the reduction of water reserves in the aquifers. This context motivates the adoption of extraordinary measures to guarantee water for consumption and irrigation, for which actions are coordinated from the Insular Water Council with the municipalities and irrigation communities.
As explained by the president, Casimiro Curbelo, this decision is taken to speed up the execution of actions that cover the current demand for water resources, which has been increasing in recent years, with the forecast that the current collection systems will be insufficient due to the lowering of the level in the wells located, mainly, in the southern zone, and from where the water is pumped to the entire Island.
Thus, he announced that urgent action will be taken to equip three desalination plants in San Sebastián de La Gomera, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey, with a generation capacity of up to two thousand cubic meters per day. “This will mean a sufficient contribution to guarantee attention to current and future demand, given the consequences that we will continue to suffer from climate change,” he said.
In addition, the measures for the detection of losses in networks and their repair will be reinforced, betting on the installation of remote management meter systems. The recovery, adaptation and improvement of transport and measurement infrastructures are promoted, which are combined with actions for efficient irrigation and the recovery of springs. The mandatory control of aquifer levels with mechanisms for measuring boreholes and wells for human supply and irrigation is determined.
As a matter of urgency, clean energies will be implemented in the Valle Gran Rey wells, a measure that will be extended to the desalination plants planned in the southern municipalities. In this same location, the completion of the water pumping project will be promoted from the La Negra wells to Campillos in Alajeró; the closure of the water transport ring from the Las Majadas reservoir, in Agulo, to the network of the town center, as well as the improvement of the island’s wastewater treatment plants.
