The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, presented, at today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, the latest report on drought management policy. The report shows that we are in a multi-year cycle of drought, as a result of below-average rainfall, which mainly affects the Júcar, Segura, Tagus, Guadiana, Guadalquivir basins and to a lesser extent the Andalusian Mediterranean basin, whose situation has been alleviated, in part, thanks to the latest rains.

Although the scarcity of contributions due to the lack of rainfall may indicate that we are in a situation of severity similar to the droughts experienced in the 80s and 90s, we must take into account two important factors that make us maintain relative hope: on the one hand, we must wait for the contributions that the reservoirs receive as a result of the snows that have fallen in recent weeks and, On the other hand, the rainfall for the rest of the winter and spring is yet to arrive in what is the second important rainy season in an entire hydrological year. Only from that moment will it be possible to gauge the severity of the drought.

In any case, it is difficult for the reservoir reserves to meet all the demands normally, so a series of actions aimed at alleviating the effects of the drought in the most affected areas will be launched imminently, for an estimated amount of 180 million euros.

However, it must be trusted that the supply to the populations can be met thanks to the next rains, the management measures adopted and the entry into operation of desalination plants on the Costa del Sol and in the Mancomunidad de los Canales del Taibilla.