The Council of Ministers has given the go-ahead at its meeting today to the emergency works that the Ministry of the Environment is carrying out in the provinces of Toledo, Murcia, Alicante and Almeria, for a total amount of 5,110,000 euros.

These actions are as follows:

1. Supply from the Commonwealth of El Torcón and San Martín de Montalbán (Toledo): The current drought has caused the supply for the affected populations to be at the limit of the available reserves.

The solution for the situation that the Mancomunidad is going through consists of pumping in the reservoir and a drive from Torcón I to the Torcón II reservoir, capable of a maximum flow of 200 liters per second. In addition, it includes the expansion of the filtering facilities of the drinking water station (DWTP) and the incorporation of additives to treat water of poor quality.

Given the possibility of depletion of the Torcón II reservoir, the execution and equipping of five 40-meter-deep boreholes with a submersible pump is proposed. These wells will be made to provide small additional flows. For the nucleus of San Martín de Montalbán, the execution of a cast iron or PVC pipeline and the connection with the current supply network is proposed.

2. Acondicionamiento y mantenimiento del río Segura. Tramo II entre Contraparada y la desembocadura (Murcia y Alicante).

The actions that the Ministry of the Environment has been carrying out have proven to be absolutely necessary to maintain the Segura River in the proper conditions of cleanliness, alleviating the degradation in which the riverbed was, especially this second section, due to the low circulating flow due to the extreme situation of water deficit in which the Segura basin is located.

This extreme situation worsened even more during the month of August, which turned out to be, with 6.16 cubic hectometres of contributions, the driest August in the historical series of the last 75 years since data are available.

The maintenance and conservation work inside the riverbed, the electricity supply and maintenance of the oxygenating facilities of Orihuela and Rojales, essential to avoid bad odours, as well as the removal of rubbish and dead animals from the watercourse itself, are currently essential works, especially in the current circumstances of scarcity of resources circulating through the Segura river.

3.- Waterproofing, consolidation and reinforcement in the main channel on the right bank of the post-basin (Murcia and Almeria) In view of the extreme drought in the Segura Basin, the necessary actions must be undertaken as quickly as possible to alleviate the very serious damage that is being caused.

In the main channel on the right bank of the post-basin, water losses due to seepage in the area have increased. The variation in circulating flows due to the lack of resources for irrigation has affected the infrastructure with the appearance of significant leaks that, regardless of the volumes lost, dissolve the gypsum and cause cavities with a serious risk of collapse.

These actions, which, on the one hand, will save water and, on the other, make the supply available as much as possible, do not allow the wait for urgent processing, which is why they have been declared an emergency.

It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to act immediately in the repair and commissioning. The deadlines to which the formation of any contracting file would give rise would entail a delay in the repair of the damage in an undoubted and irremissible way and would lead to a catastrophic situation with the ruin of the agricultural holdings in the area and even other problems derived from the shortage of supplies of the populations.

4.- Improvement of exploitation and reduction of losses in sections II, III and IV of the main canal on the left bank of the post-basin and Crevillente canal (Alicante)

In sections II and III of the main canal on the left bank of the post-water basin together with the Crevillente canal, significant water losses are occurring, caused by cracks and fissures in the infrastructure, caused by the recent filling and emptying of the canal due to the lack of continuity in the supply for irrigation. In recent days, some point of risk of collapse has been detected. On the other hand, the habilitation of section IV will allow the construction of a by-pass from the La Pedrera reservoir and thus facilitate the supply of the Taibilla.