Access to water and who or when will get it will be key for the agricultural sector on the western tropical coast of Granada. "In La Herradura, and in Almuñécar in general, we growers are in an extreme situation," says Francisco García, vice-president of the Jóvenes Agricultores irrigation community and member and representative on the Central Board of users of Río Verde, Seco and Jate. "At the moment, we have water with very high salinity levels for tropical crops due to the intrusion of seawater into the aquifers, and reserves are also increasingly low due to the lack of rainfall."
Francisco's farm in 2021.
"Subtropical crops are affected when chlorides and sodium exceed certain levels, and although the plant can withstand up to 300 mg/l, it begins to suffer when they exceed 150 mg/l, and in the latest analyses carried out by independent laboratories in wells such as San José-Herradura, in the Río Verde aquifer, more than 600 mg/l of chlorides and 180 mg/l of sodium have been detected."
"The regional Government has promoted the use of reclaimed water, although the results after analyzing the water obtained are no better. At the beginning of July, the water collected from the pumping station of the Irrigation Community of Río Verde-Seco and Jete, in Almuñécar, contained 580 mg/l of chlorides and 310 mg/l of sodium."
The same farm in 2023, after pruning the trees to try to keep them alive. Francisco: "In three years, I went from producing 20,000 kg to fewer than 3,000."
"Right now, the situation is catastrophic. Work is being carried out in the Almuñécar fertile plain to try to divert the surplus water supply from Almuñécar for irrigation, although at a high cost, because there are people who have been without water for more than a month and a half now," says Francisco. "Some farms were already in a very bad condition due to the situation in previous years, and now they have once again seen their production fall and fruit sizes reduced, and in fact, some producers have had to give up, because their trees have simply died."
Avocado trees in 2024.
"Our hope is that we'll be able to get water from the Béznar-Rules dam system. We were all hoping that with the Next Generation funds, we would be getting the necessary water to irrigate some 2,500-3,000 hectares of crops, but it is increasingly difficult to see this happening since, once again, we have no budget for the works," says Francisco.
"We had hoped to be able to start irrigating in 2026, but what's left of that now?
In June 2023, a long-awaited agreement was signed that would guarantee irrigation for some 720 hectares on the Costa Tropical of Granada, although this was only one of the 11 breakdowns of the original project. It is worth recalling that the Rules dam was built in 2004 and, with a capacity of 114 hm³, is one of the three largest reservoirs in the province of Granada.
More than a year ago, the Andalusian Council of Agriculture itself asked the Spanish Government to "speed up" the drafting of the next breakdown, number 3, which would benefit irrigators in Granada, "so as not to run the risk of losing the possibility of financing it with Next Generation funds."
"And that is exactly what is happening," says Francisco García. "The EU has set 2026 as a deadline for the works to be completed with these Next Generation funds, but due to delays on the part of the Administration, as well as poor management-negotiations by the General Community of Irrigators of the Lower Guadalfeo, we run the risk of losing a huge amount of EU aid for works that we have been waiting 20 years for.
Condition of the trees in 2021 and 2024.
"Knowing the urgency that we growers had to receive water, and that there was a deadline, it makes no sense that no works have been put out to tender, or that nothing has been done for a project of such magnitude, given that European funds were available."
"We have been told that at present, with the current deadlines, there wouldn't be enough time to tender, grant and execute the works for Breakdown No. 3 before the end of 2026, so the money for the project would have to be returned to Europe and we would be left without the Next Generation funds."
"It is a disgrace that in 20 years the administration has not given us a solution and that, because of its slowness, we are going to lose the great opportunity that Europe is giving us."
"Meanwhile, in the 2,500 hectares of crops that need these works, thousands of families are seeing their fields dry up, and they are losing their source of income. Many are losing a whole lifetime's work. Many had invested in their farms in recent years; some with their life savings, others with the help of banks. These families are losing everything and they are already in a very difficult socio-economic situation, so this may have socio-economic consequences for the entire municipality. We had hoped to be able to start irrigating in 2026, but what's left of that now?"
For more information:
Francisco García
[email protected]