The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo, has highlighted the important hydraulic actions being carried out by the Andalusian Regional Government in the Levante region of Almeria to implement the Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) of Cuevas del Almanzora and improve the guarantee of supply for the municipalities of the region, projects that «greatly improve water losses».
In response to a question in a parliamentary committee, Crespo regretted that the governments prior to the arrival of Juanma Moreno are «responsible for the water leaks in Andalusia because for decades there was no investment in water in the Autonomous Community». By way of example, the councillor recalled that the DWTP suffered serious damage in 2012 due to a flood «and until now its renovation had not been started». This work contributes to improving the supply guarantee for 100,000 residents and will make the water from the Cuevas del Almanzora reservoir drinkable.
With regard to the works to improve the supply guarantee for the municipalities of the Almanzora Region, the Regional Minister specified that the Andalusian Government is working on the first stage of the project, which aims to boost water resources from the Cuevas del Almanzora dam to the municipalities of Albox and Olula. «These localities had major difficulties in accessing water,» he said, adding that «within the framework of the 4th Drought Decree, we are also starting with the Fines area». «This is a phase that we are going to tackle quickly, as we are trying to do with all the projects,» Crespo remarked, regretting that, on the contrary, «the previous governments left the Almanzora project in a drawer without starting up a single section from 2005 to 2019. «It was precisely the government of Juanma Moreno that has rescued and promoted it, with the first phase already completed and two more phases underway,» she explained.
On the other hand, Carmen Crespo has also asked the parliamentarians to support the Andalusian Government’s request to increase the Next Generation funds to prevent leaks in the water supply network, since the 12.6 million euros allocated for this purpose do not allow to reach the requests for 70 million euros that have been registered in Andalusia. The councillor explained that 21% of the municipalities benefiting from this aid are in the province of Almería (Cantoria, Ohanes, Sorbas, Albox, Tíjola, María, Partaloa, Laujar de Andarax, Instinción, Olula del Río, Arboleas, Zurgena and Pulpí), which have received 3.3 million euros in subsidies. «But we have asked for more funds because Bedar, Mojácar, Los Gallardos, Carboneras, Huércal-Overa, Cuevas del Almanzora, Lubrín, Antas, Garrucha and Vera also have to be included», Crespo pointed out in relation to the municipalities that have presented improvement projects but have not been able to access the aid due to a lack of economic resources.
Finally, in view of the last technical meeting held between the different autonomous communities that receive water from the Tajo-Segura water transfer, Carmen Crespo asked the parliamentary groups to «help defend the area of the Spanish Levante», in order to prevent Castilla-La Mancha from once again reducing the important water resources that this area receives.