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The Socialist Parliamentary Group has presented a motion in the Regional Assembly for the Hydrographic Confederation of Segura (CHS) to adopt the necessary measures in the management of the aquifers of Caravaca de la Cruz to recover the flow of all the springs of the municipality, as As explained by the regional deputy Jesus Navarro.

Through this initiative, the Socialists urge the regional government to ask the Government of Spain to determine the concentration of nitrates and other harmful agents, and to take measures to make the groundwater of Caravaca suitable for any use.

According to Navarro, this motion also intends to inform the European Commission of the effect of the overexploitation of aquifers on the Caravaca springs, so that appropriate measures can be taken to comply with the Water Framework Directive.

The socialist deputy has recalled that in recent decades the transformation of large areas from rainfed to irrigated by the extraction of large quantities of groundwater has been taking place in Caravaca, which is causing the generalized reduction of the flows of the springs.

"This harms the incomes of the farmers and causes an environmental deterioration".

"This increase in irrigated crops may also be influencing the increase in nitrate concentration of groundwater in certain areas of Caravaca," he explained.

He recalled that the Royal Decree of December 1986 already limited the increase in the volume of groundwater abstraction, except in certain very specific cases.

"So the irrigation expansion of the Segura Basin can be said to be illegal since December 30 of that year."

In this sense, has indicated that there are approximately 2,000 new hectares of irrigated land that consume more than 10 cubic hectometres of water from overexploited aquifers.

"The irrigators have been denouncing this situation for more than 20 years and the CHS has not taken measures to repair this serious problem. On the contrary, we continue to observe with amazement how irrigated lands continue to be transformed into irrigation with groundwater, apparently with total impunity ", Has denounced.

Source: PSRM-PSOE