New rules reduce the Tajo-Segura water transfer, amid criticism from the Levante region and irrigators.

Madrid, Apr 29 (EFEverde).- The new operating rules for the Tajo-Segura water transfer presented by the Ministry for Ecological Transition (Miteco) propose reducing diversions by up to 40% by 2027, which has drawn criticism from the regional governments of Murcia, the Valencian Community, and Andalusia, as well as irrigators, although it has pleased Castilla-La Mancha.

This proposal, included in a report by the Center for Public Works Studies and Experimentation (Cedex), on which the future decree-law regulating the transfer will be based, will allow for the first stage of the ecological flow of the Tagus River established in the Hydrological Plan to be met, explained the Ministry of Water and Environment (Miteco) in a statement.

The Cedex report was presented this Tuesday, when the meeting of the operating committee resumed. The meeting had to be suspended on Monday due to the massive power outage in Spain. The meeting also authorized a transfer of 180 cubic hectometres corresponding to this quarter, according to the regulations still in force.

The new rules, advanced to EFE by the president of the Association of Riverside Municipalities of Entrepeñas and Buendía, Borja Castro, foresee that, compared to the average of 320 cubic hectometres (hm3) transferred annually from the headwaters of the Tagus to the Levant, in 2026 248 hm3 will be able to be diverted and in 2027, 193 hm3.

The new rules propose 3 levels

The Cedex report proposes increasing the reserves of the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs to 1,600 hm3 to declare them Level 1 , while currently this threshold is set at 1,300 hm3.

Furthermore, the volumes to be transferred would be reduced at both levels 2 and 3, while it proposes that reservoirs enter level 3 ("exceptional hydrological situations") when they accumulate 550 or 600 hm3, while the current level is set at 400 hm3.

In 2025, when the reservoirs are at level 2 , 24 hm3 could be automatically transferred per month, which will be reduced to 23 hm3 in 2026 and 18 hm3 in 2027. Current regulations state that transfers at level 2 are 27 hm3 per month, automatically authorized.

And at level 3 , it is proposed that 11 hm3 per month can be automatically transferred in 2025, 10 hm3 in 2026 and 9 hm3 in 2027. Currently, transfers of 0 to 20 hm3 per month can be approved at the discretion of Miteco.

The Cedex proposal suggests that when reservoirs reach level 3, transfers would be automatic, because "it eliminates the pressure of having to decide," according to Castro, who emphasized that the cuts would apply primarily to agriculture, with a reduction for irrigation of up to 50%, and that human consumption would remain a priority.

The exploitation committee will meet again next week to present the draft royal decree, which will require a specific report from the monitoring committee of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct, which will be held shortly, as well as another report from the National Water Council prior to its approval, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Miteco) has recalled.

"The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MITECO) will explain all the details of the report and subsequent steps to both users and the affected autonomous communities, without prejudice to any contributions received during the public information process to which the draft update of the royal decree must be submitted," the statement said.

Criticism in the Levant

The new rules have sparked criticism among the regional governments in the Levant region.

The Valencian Government has accused the central government of "punishment" for changing the operating rules of the transfer without consensus to "drastically reduce" monthly shipments.

In a statement, the regional minister of Agriculture, Water, Livestock, and Fisheries, Miguel Barrachina, blamed the government for imposing "ideological decisions that directly affect the economy, employment, and the future of thousands of families" in southern Alicante, with rules that come "without technical or regional consensus and behind the backs of irrigators and farmers."

The Murcian government also disliked the proposal, and the regional minister for water, agriculture, livestock, and fishing, Sara Rubira, said that with the new rules, the central government "has committed its betrayal of the region and signed the death certificate for the aqueduct."

In his opinion, the new rules will mean cutting irrigation shipments to the Spanish Levant by 50% over the next two years, which, he told EFE, "is an irrecoverable blow to the primary sector and our irrigators."

"The Sánchez government, driven by water sectarianism, is cutting irrigation water supplies in half without any alternative and without any technical justification," he added.

The Andalusian Regional Government has criticized the "cut" to the water transfer, which will affect the province of Almería, and the fact that the Ministry of Water and Energy (Miteco) has not submitted its report to the committee members.

"With this new proposal/imposition, Almeria's irrigated lands will lose 7.5 cubic hectometres annually, which the Andalusian Regional Government will reclaim from the Ministry from other sources in order to ensure that the necessary water reaches Almeria's countryside," the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, told EFE.

For his part, the president of the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct , Lucas Jiménez, warned EFE this Tuesday that with the new rules "there will be many months and years of zero transfer."

"The damage that will be inflicted on this sector in 2027, with the introduction of this battery of regulations aimed at wiping out the agricultural sector, will be tremendous," said Jiménez, who accused the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Livestock (Miteco) of promoting "the destruction of the productive, agricultural, and livestock sectors" in the area.

"Positive" news at the headwaters of the Tagus

On the other hand, the Government of Castilla-La Mancha has indicated that it has not yet received the draft of the new rules, but the spokesperson for the regional government, Esther Padilla, stated in a press conference that, if the advanced figures are confirmed, they would be "positive."

"That's positive, if confirmed, because it goes in line with reducing transfers and ensuring environmental flows," he asserted.

Borja Castro, from the Association of Riverside Municipalities of Entrepeñas and Buendía , also praised these proposals as "a very important step forward" in guaranteeing the Tagus's ecological flow and increasing its reserves at the river's headwaters. EFEverde

Want to help us? Share our latest weekly #SustainablePlanet newsletter with friends, colleagues, and others who might be interested.