Mario Urrea, President of the Segu5ra Water Board, Confederacion Hidrografica del Segura, has signed the Decree of Extraordinary Drought in the majority of the Segura basin, which directly affects farmers and smallholders.
The declaration does not increase the restrictions for those using irrigation water but allows the use of the Sinclinal de Calasparra, underground well network.
The Sinclinal of Calasparra consists of 19 wells and is a great mass of subterranean water. The exploitation of these wells has been authorized by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and means that the reservoirs will not need to release water for irrigation.
The current restriction on irrigation water are 20 percent for traditional systems and 30 percent for non traditional, which includes drop irrigation systems.
The President has announced these restrictions will be reviewed at the end of March and will take into account the rainfall in the basin.
The restrictions do not affect drinkling water.
