After months with zero irrigation water from the Tagus River, the Ministry for Ecological Transition has granted approval for a December transfer. A total of 15 cubic meters will be moved through the transfer system to support irrigation in crops across Murcia, Alicante, and Almeria. The Tagus reserves had become critically low in the Levantine basin, prompting the Segura Hydrographic Confederation to forecast potential depletion within the month. The situation now hinges on desalinated water from January onward. This move underscores how the interregional water system balances agricultural needs with urban supplies in a period of limited natural inflows. (Attribution: Ministry for Ecological Transition)
The irrigation transfer occurs amid sustained tension among the communities connected by the aqueduct. Technicians from the Transfer Exploitation Commission convened on a Tuesday and initially agreed on a shipment of 20 hm3; however, given the system’s level 3 designation for an exceptional case, the minister could reduce the volume. That adjustment was implemented to ensure water availability, even as the Levante irrigation network faced pressing shortages. (Attribution: Transfer Exploitation Commission)
In a formal statement, the ministry noted that recent substantial rainfall across the Iberian Peninsula is expected to bolster the reserves of the Entrepeñas and Buendia reservoirs, the source from which the transfer draws water. At the start of the month, the reserves stood at 445 hm3, and they have since risen further by roughly a hundred more hectometres, signaling a hopeful trend for both urban supply and irrigation use. Since September, only 7.5 hm3 had been allocated for urban needs. (Attribution: Ministry for Ecological Transition)
Despite the overall improvement, the technicians’ committee warned that the transfer system would remain at level 3 even as reserves start to recover. The possibility that the situation could persist into the coming period was explicitly acknowledged. Data available January 1 show that, as of December 2022, the current volume transferred for supply and, to a lesser extent, irrigation within the Segura basin was 25.56 hm3, with 15 hm3 slated as a permissible and pending volume for spring waters. (Attribution: Regional Water Authorities)
What the ministry reiterates is that the last three zero-transfer episodes for irrigation helped stabilize the regional water balance. They contributed to a measurable increase in storage within the Entrepeñas and Buendia reservoirs, preventing entry into a level that would forbid transfers entirely. The trend currently places the system at a level four scenario only when extreme circumstances arise, at which point transfers would be halted. (Attribution: Ministry for Ecological Transition)