The Regional Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo, has laid the first stone of the collectors and the new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Úrcal together with the Mayor of the Almeria town of Huércal-Overa, Domingo Fernández. Carmen Crespo stressed that «this action contributes, on the one hand, to the possibility of adding, in the future, regenerated water for the east of Almeria; and on the other hand, to achieve the common goal that the administrations have of reaching zero discharge».
In addition to the councillor and the mayor, the Andalusian deputy Ángeles Martínez Martínez and the congresswoman María Isabel Sánchez participated in the laying of the first stone. Among other attendees, the Secretary General of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Manuel Gómez, and the territorial delegate of Agriculture in Almería, Antonio Mena, also attended the ceremony.
In his speech, Crespo explained that it is expected to take 15 months to complete «a very innovative and complex design that will bring great benefits to the residents of Úrcal». Specifically, this work involves an investment of 1.8 million euros which will directly affect the 760 inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
This action is part of the global and strategic purification project that the Junta is promoting in Huércal-Overa to close the purification circle in the municipality of Almería. In total, more than 25,000 residents of the town centre and six neighbourhoods (Los Menas, San Francisco, Santa Bárbara, Santa María de Nieva, La Hoya and Úrcal) will benefit from this initiative, which, as Crespo emphasised, will have «first-class hydraulic infrastructures that are technologically advanced and represent a step forward in ecology». «Thanks to projects like this one, we can say that in Andalusia we are treating our waste water and giving regenerated water a chance in the future», said the Minister, adding that this work will also «create 176 green jobs in this rural area».
Carmen Crespo also explained that the discharge grouping and the main treatment plant in Huércal-Overa «are already at 95% completion» and, therefore, she will soon be able to comment on the six-month testing period prior to its commissioning.
On the other hand, the councillor referred to the fact that the Junta is allocating a total of 11.7 million euros to Huércal-Overa’s global wastewater treatment project, which is a response to «an investment that the municipality has needed for many years and that today the Town Council and the regional government are making a reality».
For his part, the Mayor of Huércal-Overa, Domingo Fernández, has valued «the good news and the investment that the Regional Minister’s visits to this municipality always bring». Fernández emphasised that this infrastructure «was very necessary for the area, which is growing in population» and thanked the Junta «not only for the Úrcal project, but also for other actions in Huércal-Overa, such as the sewers in the town centre and the sewage treatment plant in El Saltador». «We will all work together to ensure that this project comes to fruition,» the mayor remarked.
Investment in water
During her speech, the Minister emphasised that, «from the beginning, the Government of Juanma Moreno has been committed to investing in water, allocating 1.5 billion euros to actions in this area and 518 million euros, specifically, to Drought Decrees». «And we are going to continue working whether it rains or not in order to prepare the territory for possible future droughts and, in this way, to be able to increase the guarantee of resources to supply the population and the productive sectors», Crespo commented, highlighting that «at the moment, we already have 126 hm³ more of purified water which gives us the opportunity to have 70 hm³ of regenerated water». As for the future, she recalled that the Andalusian government’s objective is to continue working in this area and to add 140 hm³ of reclaimed water.
The Councillor stated that the work that begins today in Huércal-Overa is one more step to «close the circle of the more than 200 million euros that the Junta is investing in Almería»; and pointed out that the Andalusian Government «is acting in 85% of the municipalities of this province in the field of purification».
Carmen Crespo also announced that the regional government is working to bring into service the tertiary treatment project for the Vera, Mojácar and Cuevas del Almanzora WWTPs «in order to provide the eastern part of the province with a greater quantity of regenerated water». He also pointed out that the Junta will soon begin work on the Oria, Tabernas and Fiñana treatment plants.