The Tenerife Island Council will promote actions to improve water flow between the Tágara and Trevejos reservoirs with the aim of ensuring water supply for irrigation in the Vilaflor area and the Abona region. The Insular Councillor for Primary Sector, Valentín González, met with farmers, in attendance was also the mayor of Chasna, Agustina Beltrán, to inform them of the measures that the Insular Corporation will undertake to “mitigate the effects of the drought we are facing, especially with the upcoming summer season.” This initiative comes after the declaration of a water emergency.
In addition to actions to enhance the transportation and distribution of irrigation water in the region, Valentín González announced during the meeting that, “in order to improve efficiency, we will implement the necessary tools to promote exchanges to alleviate water shortages in the midlands and high areas.” The Primary Sector Councillor explains that this is to prevent the transfer of irrigation water to the coast from the upper area of the region. The water deficit that this will cause in the lower Abona region will be supplemented by the Council with regenerated water, which has the added benefit of being of higher quality, González Évora pointed out
Placing a portable desalination plant in the upper Chasna area has been ruled out as technically unfeasible
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The Insular Water Council of Tenerife (Ciatf) last Tuesday endorsed the 34 measures approved by the Council Plenary last Friday, the 1st. “Necessary actions in the Tágara-Trevejos transportation channel to increase supply guarantees in the Vilaflor and Abona areas” is listed as number 30 among the proposed actions to address the water crisis on the island.
Valentín González informed the community of farmers in Chasna that another measure that the Council will implement, also included in the emergency declaration, is the study for putting into operation facilities (wells and galleries) that are currently out of service, in addition to increasing their exploitation flow rates, taking into account and evaluating hydrological risks and economic impact.
The Five Desalination Plants
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Although the Council announces that Tenerife will have five portable desalination plants soon to combat extreme drought in the countryside, none of them will be located in the upper Chasna area “due to technical infeasibility.” These desalination plants and their associated pipelines will be located in Fonsalía (Guía de Isora), Mesa del Mar (Tacoronte), Valle de Güímar (La Laguna), Valle de Guerra, and Granadilla de Abona. The first one could be operational as soon as April next month.
The Insular Councillor for the Primary Sector announces that there will be informational meetings with farmers from each region of the island, with the aim of “sharing all the information we have, as we understand that the water situation in Tenerife’s countryside requires constant dialogue with the sector, as well as the involvement of all social and economic stakeholders on the island.”
