Portal de Caravaca de la Cruz
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In the meeting held yesterday with the President of the CHS, Mario Urrea, together with the Commissioner of Waters and the Head of the Planning Office, we asked for solutions, once again, so that the Northwest does not end up being something similar to the environment of the Sea Minor.
The serious problem of intensive agriculture, and the lack of control that has led to the disaster of the Mar Menor lagoon and its surroundings, has pushed many companies even further to the Northwest and Altiplano.
However, as we highlight to the President, Mr. Urrea, for the data we have, in the period from 2012 to 2014, in farms located in the Caravaca area, only files for illegal irrigation of 332 hectares have been opened, the mostly due to ARECA complaints.
However, that figure represents, at best, only a quarter of what was reported.
And, what is worse, as has been happening and we said: "in no case has the closing order of the illegal irrigation been carried out, with a replacement to its previous state".
In the meeting we provide documents that show that numerous inscriptions of groundwater concessions were absolutely irregular.
Specifically, the CHS legalized some 900 hectares in Caravaca, against the Water Law, which had never been watered (Roblecillo, Gorrafina, Majada de las Vacas, Las Almenas, Cañada del Charco, etc).
With subsequent illegal transformations, we estimate in more than 2,000 hectares of dry land that have been irrigated in our area.
But the serious thing also, as we stated yesterday, is that in several farms they can be extracting between three or four times the volume granted, without being reflected in the (mandatory) counters and out of control.
According to the President of ARECA, and spokesman for the Northwest Defense Council, Alfonso Sánchez, yesterday we were able to contradict in person the ridiculous figures, of some 3,600 hectares, offered by the CHS, in terms of transformation from dry land to irrigation throughout the Basin , which is not even 2%, as stated last May by Mr. Urrea.
We made it clear to the President yesterday that we do not admit that figure, in view of the data we handle only in the Northwest, and the worst of all is that the CHS does not handle real figures, not even from the situation of the Basin, issue that could not be refuted.
Among our concrete proposals with a certain commitment from the President are:
That in the case of dry periods, a reduction of the extractions in the wells in the same or superior measure is foreseen in the Basin Plan as the reduction of the flow of the springs, from which the traditional Irrigation Communities are nourished, a matter that will be taken to the CHS Governing Board.
Strengthen the means and personnel for control, surveillance and sanction, which the Ministry has requested.
They can provide support among other agents, the Forest Nursery.
Include the graphic information of the registered watering perimeters, in the CHS WEB viewer, so that we can collaborate, and increase the frequency of monitoring and control points in terms of contamination of groundwater bodies and plans of acting.
Finally, we propose the need to have an AUDIT or evaluation of the transformation of dry land to intensive irrigation in the Region and its impact on groundwater withdrawals.
Next, Alfonso Sánchez said, the next step "is a round of proposals to all the municipalities of the Region, to seek their involvement", and that if possible lead to the creation of a Regional Water Board.
Source: Agencias
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