The massive engineering project to divert water from the Cenajo reservoir through pipelines and away from the rivers of Calasparra has been shelved indefinitely.
The paralization of the construction of the controversial pipeline may be due to the mass and widespread protests or it maybe because the political parties have their eye on the impending regional and municipal elections but the result is the same: the rivers Segura and Mundo, which ecologists claim could have lost up to 40% of their caudal as a result of the project, have been reprieved.
The decision to put the pipeline on hold “without start date” was taken following a meeting between the Secretary General for Water, Marta Morén, and the head of the regional Agricultural Department, Antonio Cerdá yesterday.
The construction of the pipeline, which has raised protests from the municipal areas of Calasparra, Cieza and Abarán, was previously “frozen” by the Minister, Rosa Aguilar, after separate petitions by the President of the regional government, Luis Ramón Valcarcel, and the PSOE candidate for the presidency, Garcia Retegui.
According to the Minister, the project is not “simply parked”. “It is time to study the other alternatives. The moment will come when we have to identify the best technical solution,” she said.
