Spain has been facing shrinking water reserves despite a week marked by heavy rainfall driven by a detached atmospheric system that lingered over the region since last Friday. The rain has increased the moisture in the soil and streams, but the reservoirs themselves have not yet collected the full benefit of this precipitation, leaving storage capacities only partly replenished for the moment.
At present, reservoirs hold 20,763 cubic meters of storage. After a loss of 319 cubic hectometers last week, this represents 0.6 percent of total capacity, according to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. The ministry notes in the weekly bulletin that the rainfall contributions from the atmospheric system have not yet manifested in significant reservoir fill. Water volumes are rising, however, as soil moisture replenishes and channels convey more water toward storage sites. The most rainfall occurred in Tortosa, Tarragona, where 156.8 liters per square meter were recorded.
An image caption accompanies a photo of the Bolarque reservoir, underscoring the ongoing focus on Spain’s water basins.
By region, reservoir levels stand at 83.6 percent in the Eastern Cantabrian area, 82 percent in western Cantabria, 62.6 percent in Miño-Sil, 60.4 percent along the Costa Galicia, 71.4 percent in the inland Basque Country basins, and 59.8 percent for the Tinto, Odiel and Piedras basins [citation: Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge].
Basins in poor condition
Looking more broadly, several major river basins show stressed storage: the Duero sits at 45.6 percent of capacity, the Tagus at 47.4 percent, and the Guadiana at 24.2 percent. Other basins—Guadalete-Barbate at 16.8 percent, Guadalquivir at 19.3 percent, the Andalusian Mediterranean basin at 26 percent, Segura at 26.1 percent, Júcar at 47.6 percent, the Ebro at 36.7 percent, and the inner Catalonian basins at 24.1 percent—are all below their long-term norms.
Overall, the current reserve level sits roughly 28.43 percent below the ten-year average, even as water availability remains about 5.25 percent higher than on the same dates last year [citation: Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge].
It will improve but very little
In response to the DANA event, Greenpeace’s water spokesperson, Julio Barea, stated that the collected torrential rains may only modestly raise soil moisture in limited areas and are unlikely to be used to fill reservoirs due to their punctual and localized nature. He also noted the broader consequences, pointing to human casualties and damage to homes and infrastructure. The NGO cautions that Spain faces an increasing likelihood of extreme climate events and the associated harm they cause. A plan to reduce irrigated areas is urged so that new projects with high water demand are not approved in regions with historical supply problems, along with stronger controls on illegal water use. The organization also advocates restricting new hydraulic infrastructures and desalination plants to exceptional circumstances, delaying concessions or permits for intensive livestock farms, and outlining a transition roadmap to agroecology by 2030 [citation: Greenpeace statement].