Biologist and ecologist Fernando Maestre Gil believes it Tagus-Segura transfer “has an expiration date,” advocates recycling of some crops. irrigation drying up land due to scarcity of water resources and warns of the possibility of desertification in parts of Spain if we continue without rain and “continue to use the water as before”.
‘Alejandro Malaspina’ National Research Award in Natural Resources Sciences and Technologies 2022, Rei Jaume I Environmental Protection Award 2020 and distinguished researcher Maestre Gil from the University of Alicante (UA) made these reflections in an interview. Agencia Efe is in a period of a climatic situation characterized by a lack of precipitation in a large part of the territory of our country.
Maestre described the current situation of the drought. very worriedbecause it occurs simultaneously with abnormally high temperatures and a persistent state of our groundwater bodies”.
Right now, “More than 40% of our aquifers have pollution problems (due to substances such as nitrates) and/or overuserevealed this expert, who has become a major touchstone in Spain for his numerous and important advances in research on biodiversity and the ecology of arid regions.
“If it continues without precipitation and if we continue to increase water consumption with irrigated agriculture as we have done so far, there is a risk of desertification in different regions of our country.. “Those most at risk are places where drought combines with increased water use, especially in agriculture.”
Reduce irrigated area
Maestre Gil, a native of Alicante’s town of Sax, also speculates: “The irrigated area should be reduced”. This is a moratorium on the implementation of new irrigation systems and the conversion of some of these crops to dry land”.
“To do this, we must take into account the consumption of water and crops and their social return, prioritizing those that create more jobs and redistribute wealth more effectively,” he said.
The expert advocates “a moratorium on implementing new irrigation systems and converting some of them back into rain-fed crops.”
reduced”. water consumption includes reducing its use in agriculture, which consumes more than 80% of all fresh water used in Spain”.
According to the researcher, “It is also imperative to reduce food waste.. Because some of the harvest cannot be sold, it is thrown away before being marketed, often when the market is saturated due to overproduction.”
What will happen to the Tajo-Segura transfer?
When asked if he considered the Tajo-Segura transfer necessary, Maestre Gil gave the following opinion: “has an expiration date”.
“Climate records have changed over the past two decades. Rainfall decreases in Tagus basin. Future projections show: there will be less precipitation in the basin“It’s something that adds to the evapotranspiration from the increase in temperature,” he said.
Let’s not forget that a significant part of the transfer is through an open air duct where the water evaporates. Like it or not, there will come a time when the transfer has to be closed.. And it will not be at the whim of the government in power, with the intent to trouble our region, because there will be no water to be diverted. We must start preparing for the future.”
“There will come a time when there will be no more water to transfer”
Regarding desalination plants, Maestre Gil explained that they are “a resource to be used every time”. more as transfer contributions decrease and aquifers become more depleted”.
Drought will worsen the condition of aquifers
When asked whether the aquifers are in danger of being used if the high temperatures and lack of precipitation continue, this expert assured: There is certainly a very real risk that drought will exacerbate the battered condition of our groundwater.because if current weather conditions continue over time they will be exploited and overexploited even more.
When asked what he would suggest to the political parties that will participate in the local and regional elections to be held in May and the general elections to be held in December, to mitigate climate change, Maestre Gil replied: “Reducing our overall water consumption is very important.”
“This necessarily happens by limiting irrigation, doing infrastructure work to exploit hitherto untapped resources (such as storm tanks), using more purified water in agriculture, and adapting our towns and cities to the climate we’re already in. We start to suffer,” he suggested.
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