The government will allocate 1,000 million, half of the sustainable irrigation plan, to expand desalination plants.

The promise of “a thousand waters in April” will not apply this year: water reserves in Spain are usually 20% less than the normal value (411 liters) recorded between October and the first week of April, and the reservoirs are protected. at 51.12 percent of its capacity (28,665 cubic meters of water). In some cases, the water level is 60% below normal, as in the case of Murcia or Andalusia, or 80%, as in the extreme case of Catalonia, these figures are already affecting 60% of the crops, according to the latest report. From the Coordinator of Farmers and Farmers Organizations (COAG) and even threatening human consumption. The last to be affected is rice: if it does not rain before May, no planting is done. And the worst part is that there are no signs that the situation will improve in the near future. Today, representatives of the main organizations of the agricultural sector are meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture to address the extent of this lack of precipitation in rural Spain at the drought table. The seriousness of the situation led to government will doubleup to one billion euros (half of what you spend on your plan), Budget to expand the five main desalination plants that irrigate the Levant, the region most affected by drought (Catalonia is managing its own water problem). It is clear that the action to reverse the situation this year is not timely, but the question is: are desalination plants the solution to the problem?

Investments in expanding desalination plants could be directed “to plants in Torrevieja (Alicante) or Águilas (Murcia),” says Domingo Zarzo, president of the Spanish Association for Desalination and Reuse (AEDyR). Acuamed has confirmed that the activities will belong to the Murcian Valdelentisco and Águilas main facilities in Levante, and the Andalusian Carboneras and Campo de Dalías in Almería, and the facilities in Torrevieja in Alicante. In total they add 260 cubic meters per year and with extensions they will be 347 cubic meters per year., about 138,800 olympic swimming pools. “The expected date for these facilities to become operational is 2026,” they state. If AEDyR’s forecasts are met, Zarzo says the auctions “could come out during this year.” This money is part of the investment recently announced by Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which will allocate 2,130m euros for sustainable irrigation and water conservation.

The drought also forced the Governments of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, which manage their own plants, to expand the capacity of their desalination plants within five years. In the case of Catalonia, where the government is about to impose restrictions on domestic water consumption due to lack of rain, The investment amount to increase the capacity from 20 to 80 cubic meters is 176 million Euros. One year from the Tordera plant. And due to the huge tourism turnaround, the Balearic Islands will follow the same path, increasing the capacity of the desalination plant in Mallorca from 32 to 37 cubic hectometers per year (approximately 14,800 Olympic pools) and Ibiza’s capacity from 14.5 to 16.23 (6,492) Olympic swimming pool).

One more solution but not sure

There are 765 desalination plants in Spain that produce 5 hectares of desalinated water per day, more than 1,800 hectares per year. Currently, desalinated water It accounts for about 9% of all drinking water supplied to Spanish citizens. per day, although close to 100 percent in some areas, such as some islands. The last to be built were built in Levante during José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s mandate to supply succulents in southeastern Spain. Since then, the idea of ​​building new facilities has not been discussed even now with the current state of water stress. At this point, Acuamed confirms that the construction of new desalination plants is not being considered, but only the expansion of existing ones.

Desalination plants are a solution to drought, but they are not a panacea. Its construction requires a high cost, between 50 and 200 million euros, depending on the capacityand not always right. “More than 21% of all water produced through desalination in Spain goes to agriculture,” says Zarzo. The problem is that desalinated water only accounts for 1.8% of the total used for irrigation in rural areas; This is a very small number for an industry that consumes 70% of the country’s fresh water each year.

the entire agricultural surface of the country, 21% is hectares of irrigated crops and they are mainly concentrated in the Community of Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. In other words, the capacity of the desalination plants will not be enough to feed the Spanish countryside. For example, Alicante has 216,376 hectares of irrigated land, and Torrevieja, Spain’s largest desalination plant, supplies water to 8,000 hectares and 140,000 inhabitants. In Murcia, where 186.788 hectares are irrigated, the Valdelentisco factory benefits 7,577 hectares and 60,000 people. According to the Seopan construction association, the investment required to combat desertification and drought should be 4,851 million euros for the period between 2022 and 2027: 3,262 million euros for irrigation and 1,590 million euros for supply.

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But there is also the fact that although one fifth of desalinated water goes to rural areas, the sector opposes its use because of its low quality and high cost. Farmers criticize that desalinated water costs 55 cents per liter, compared to 18 cents for water from transfer. This cost depends on the energy used, 3 kilowatt-hours for every 1,000 liters of water. “The energy cost is the highest of all operating costs and can reach 40-50%,” says Zarzo. To address this issue, “The Ministry is subsidizing desalinated water rates until all this work is completed. [de ampliación] Up to 10 years maximum,” explains Joaquín Melgarejo, Director of the Water Institute at the University of Alicante. Attempts are being made to incorporate renewable energy sources into the desalination process, such as the 120-hectare solar power plant, which the government recently tendered to reduce the cost of producing desalinated water from the Torrevieja plant.

Melgarejo criticizes that the current moment of drought is “definitely” resolved by the increase in desalination plants, because in addition They are still in preparation. For him, the main issue is to maintain the flows that the Tajo-Segura transfer traditionally sends, and to start the Júcar-Vinalopó transfer regularly, but it may be necessary to start thinking about building a new desalination plant in the “world area of ​​the Segura basin”. Therefore, Zarzo said that desalination plants are “prone to drought”. and that there is one more solution to the effects of climate change”: “What is clear is that 97% of the water is in the oceans, and if we want to create a new water source. We must resort to desalination of non-existent fresh, seawater”.