Last night a small group of English speaking members of the Comunidad de Regantes attended a special meeting with an interpreter when the full implications of the alternative plan for the modernisation of the irrgation system in Calasparra were set out and there was an extensive question and answer session.
The Comunidad de Regantes had sent out personal invitations in English to 27 members for the meeting which aimed to dispel myths and explain misunderstandings around the new plan.
During the evening the following points were made:-
Any member who wants to benefit from the new pressurized drop irrigation system can sign up at the headquarters of the Comunidad in Gran Via before August 30.
Any member who does not want the new system should do nothing. They will not get the new system and will not pay.
All members are entitled to a vote on the new alternative plan and there will be a full days voting on August 31.
Voting does not imply members are “signing up” for the system. Voting is a legal requirement laid down by the Ministry in Madrid which requires a democratic vote on the plan. “It merely means you are voting so we can have the system we want,” said the President.
If 50% of the members vote for the system there will be a one off payment of 455 euros a taulla ( a taulla is 1018 square metres). If 100% vote for the system the cost will be half.
There is a loan available to members for the installation costs over 25 years which works out at approximately 22.50 euros annually per taulla including interest .
The security for the the loan is not the land of the members but the assets of the Comunidad de Regantes which includes two reservoirs.
Members only have to pay 30% of the installation costs as the other 70% is paid for out of EU FEDER funds.
Members of the Comunidad in Calasparra have a total of 8,500 taullas.
Members have one vote for every taulla. Members are required to take identification on voting day in order that their votes can be calculated and logged.
Each member who signs up for the modernisation will receive 5010 cubic metre per taulla per year. A water meter will be installed for each property to enable members to control the use of their allocated water and to ensure the correct amount of water is allocated to each property according to the number of taullas.
The water meters will be housed in huts near properties ie. an average of 10 water meters in huts dispersed around the area. The huts will generally be built on public land, wasteland or near footpaths.
The water will be piped to the perimeter of the property. Owners will be responsbile for installations on their land ie. will pay the cost of installing drop irrigation.
Members who do not vote for the new system will continue to use irrigation water from the network of existing canals.
The cost of maintaining the canal network is likely to rise substantially over the next few years due to the poor state of the network.
Irrigation water is free. Members do not have rights to irrigation water. The rights to the irrigation water is tied to the land. Water rights go with the land.This will not change.
Members pay for the maintenance of the system and the distribution of the water through their irrigation water bills. This will continue after modernization. Members who sign up for the new system will pay for its maintenance (approximately 45 euros a taulla annually) and, according to the President, “it is logical” that those who remain with the old system will pay for its maintenance although this would need to be decided at a full meeting of members.
There is no reason, acccording to the Prtesident, why the total cost of installation will increase in the future.
Members who sign up for the system after August 31 will not benefit from the 70% EU grant and will have to pay the full cost of installation.
Members can pay for the installation of the new system in one lump sum rather than benefitting from the loan arrangements.
The advantages of the modernisation included saving water, creating employment,, and making it possible to farm commercially in Calasparra. “I know you probably don´t want to farm commercially,” the President told the meeting, “but in this hard economic times there are many young people who want to farm their own land or rent land in order to eat. And they need the new system to do this.”
All the agricultural land on the other side of the railway line in Calasparra has been modernised, has drop irrigation and is being commercially exploited. “Most of the region of Murcia currently has modernised irrigation systems. Our system in Calasparra dates back to the Arab occupation,” said the President.
He ended the meeting by appealing to all members to vote on August 31 so “members of the Comunidad can have the system they choose.”
Anyone who uses irrigation water in Calasparra is a member of the Comunidad de Regantes and has a right to vote.
There is a full explanatory document on the alternative plan on the Comunidad de Regantes Facebook page or through the link on Calasparra.org. It is written in Spanish.
