Water reserves increase dramatically for the Region of Murcia

The reservoirs of the Segura basin are set to double their levels in just a couple of weeks!

The reservoir of El Cenajo near Moratalla (aero-dron.es)

One of the consequences of the series of storms which have battered Spain since Christmas is that water reserves are looking healthier than they have for some time – on average, the reservoirs in this country are now 77.34% full, a very optimistic situation indeed in a country habitually affected by drought.

All the river basins in mainland Spain show figures of at least 57%, with one notable exception: the Segura basin, which includes the Region of Murcia and parts of Albacete, Jaén, Almería and Alicante. Here the total amount of water reported in the reservoirs in the latest weekly report published on Monday 9^th February states that there are 449 cubic hectometres of water in reserve out of a capacity of 1,140 hm³, a proportion of just 39.39 per cent.

That may sound depressing but in fact it represents excellent news for the Region of Murcia. The first thing to near in mind is that a cubic hectometre is a huge amount of water (equivalent to a cube measuring 100 metres in length, width and height), and to have 449 of them represents a fairly reassuring stockpile!

The water reserves in the Segura basin. Red=2026, Green=2024, Black=2025, Blue=average last 10 years. enbalses.net

 Secondly, it is important to bear in mind that the result of all the rain and snow so far this year is that water reserves in the Segura basin are actually higher now than at any point in the last three years, and are still rising. Just two weeks ago the figure stood at around 300 hm3 (around 26% of capacity), but since the “blow-out” at the headwaters of the Río Mundo in late January the water levels in rivers and reservoirs have been rising rapidly.

Initially, the reservoir of La Fuensanta (in the province of Albacete) was suddenly in danger of overflowing, so water is now being transferred to El Cenajo (near Moratalla) and La Pedrera (close to the boundary between Murcia and Alicante). Whereas a year ago La Fuensanta contained just 17 hm³ of water, the latest weekly figure was 150 – and the most recent updates show it has now reached 165 hm³.

The water reserves in the reservoir of La Fuensanta

Similar trends are being seen in El Cenajo, where the figure now stands at 126 hm³ and rising (as opposed to 86 hm³ a year ago) and La Pedrera (71.5 hm³).

In other words, by the next weekly report it seems certain that the water reserves for Murcia and the rest of the Segura basin will be at over 40% of capacity, which may not sound like much but in fact represents untold riches in comparison with the severe droughts we have seen over the last 30 years!

To read more about the reason for the perennial water shortage in the Region of Murcia you might want to take a look at this article. It was written over 8 years ago, at a time when farmers were protesting strongly at cuts in the water supply for irrigation purposes, but not much has changed!

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