Doñana, the Tables of Daimiel, the Manga del Mar Menor ... and the Albufera of Valencia. A good part of the most emblematic wetlands of the Iberian Peninsula are going through a deep crisis that has its roots in climate change and also, to a large extent, in the chaotic management of an increasingly scarce resource such as water, the element that keeps them with life.

In the case of the Valencian lake, transformed into a Natural Park in 1986 , the main threat (although not the only one) lies in the strangulation of the contributions of the Júcar river as a result of the systematic introduction of drip irrigation in the crops that surround it. Fresh water from irrigation surpluses no longer reaches its final destination, a situation that prevents its renewal and, therefore, has resulted in a progressive stagnation of the lake and its "environmental collapse."

The technicians of the Municipal Service of the Albufera gave the alarm in this regard and their reports on the agony of the wetland have now led to a resounding response from the City of Valencia: or a minimum amount of the flow of the Júcar is allocated to ensure its survival or The problem will be solved by the European Union.

"The European Water Framework Directive states that in the hydrological planning carried out by the states, the health of water bodies ecosystems must be guaranteed, something that does not occur in the case of l'Albufera. Municipal technicians have quantified that minimum amount of the flow of the Júcar that the lake needs is 70 cubic hectometers and, if the State does not grant them, we will not hesitate to bring to European justice the breach of its directives ", threatens the vice mayor of Valencia and responsible for l'Albufera Sergi Campillo .

That, in fact, will be the starting point of the Valencian session in negotiations with the Government and the Valencian Generalitat to fix the next hydrological planning of Júcar . On this flow, understand the municipal technicians, depends on the recovery of an ecosystem that lived its moment of greatest splendor in the eighteenth century.

It was then, with the completion of the second section of the Acequia Real, when l'Albufera became the "adoptive estuary" of the Júcar due to the drift towards the wetland of most of the river's flowing flow, thus driving the expansion of the rice paddy on the banks of the lake. "Thus the contemporary Albufera is born in which the still prosperous traditional fishing and a flourishing agricultural activity are integrated while progressing a natural system of extraordinary quality, with transparent waters and high biodiversity," said the Valencian officials. And that scenario is the "horizon of reference" that aims to reach the City Council in the process of recovery of the aquatic environment of the place.

Then, in the eighteenth century and until the second half of the twentieth century, the flows from the Júcar system reached 308 cubic hectometers per year, "enough to renew the lake's waters more than 15 times per season." However, since the 1980s the regime of the Júcar flows has been drastically reduced, "currently being 85% lower."

Of the nearly 1,000 cubic hectometers, it was passed at 392 of the 1998 Hydrological Plan and these, in turn, went to 214 of the 2015 Hydrological Plan. The causes, the document points out, are found in the transfers (Tajo-Sehura , Canal Júcar-Turia and Júcar-Vinalopó-Marinas), the new supplies in Alicante, Sagunto and Albacete and, mainly, to the "extractions in the aquifer of the Eastern Channel for the establishment of new irrigations" . In this area, the technicians point out, more than 100,000 irrigated hectares have been developed since the mid-1970s that detract 400 cubic hectometers from the aquifer.

To tackle the problems caused by this situation, a plan was initiated, finally materialized in a 2001 agreement between the Ministry of Environment and the users of Júcar for the modernization of irrigation . The project consisted of the transformation to localized irrigation of most of the fields. Only one exception was given: the 4,200 hectares of rice fields that hugged the lake and that required the traditional flood irrigation system.

The application of this plan significantly improved the efficiency and control of water consumption as well as the use of fertilizers and phytosanitary products but, at the same time, left the waterless l'Albufera , which fed on the surplus of irrigation. And is that, says Campillo, water concessions were limited to agricultural needs and, therefore, only rice paddies provided leftover water to the lake. "Less and less water comes from Júcar due to the introduction of drip irrigation because there are no leftovers. L'Albufera now lives almost exclusively from rice cultivation," he explains.

A situation that ratify the municipal technicians, who affect that the contributions have been reduced "practically to zero". "You can not ignore the dire consequences that the implementation of irrigation located on the entire projected surface, without measures to ensure quality flows for the lake, will have on the protected area," concludes the technical document.

Talks

The report, signed in 2018, anticipated the current dramatic situation of l'Albufera and motivated the approval in the municipal plenary of a motion last October in which the corporation establishes its final position. First, that the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation establish a minimum water allocation for the Albufera of 70 cubic hectometers . And, secondly, to write a national plan for the use of purified water that definitely resolves that they can be used for agricultural uses in a viable way. In addition, it asks the Generalitat to promote the candidacy of the declaration of the Natural Park as a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco.

All this, they understand in the City Council, will contribute not only to guarantee sufficient water resources to maintain the lake but also will help its definitive recovery under the standards in which it moved in the eighteenth century in which it showed transparent and non-green waters and stagnant as it is today.

The negotiations to fix the contributions of the Júcar have not yet started, but in the session they have already marked a firm position in this regard that allows to guarantee the health of one of the most important natural resources of the Valencian Community. Even if that means bringing Spain to European justice.

THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE LAKE

  • Jucar dependence. The dependence on Albufera del Júcar began at the end of the 15th century and was consolidated in the 18th century with the end of the second section of the Royal Acequia, which turned the Albufera into "the adoptive estuary of the Júcar" and promoted the expansion of rice cultivation on the banks of the lake.
  • Initial contributions. Then, the contributions to the lake from the Acequia Real del Júcar reached 308 cubic hectometers per year, enough to renew the lake's waters more than 15 times per season, according to municipal reports.
  • Drip irrigation. The extension of irrigated areas and the overexploitation of the Júcar derived the impulse of localized drip risk systems. This system strangled the contributions to the lake, which fed on surplus crop irrigation. At present, the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation only grants the water necessary for irrigation and the Albufera survives by the surpluses of rice cultivation.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Valencia
  • European Union
  • Albacete
  • Alicante
  • Valencian Community
  • Spain
  • Europe
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