- ‘Politics is not done with water, it is a duty to defend and support our irrigators’ – Mayor Butron
Los Montesinos mayor José Manuel Butron and Councillors from the Vega Baja Town supported the rally staged in Alicante against the transfer of water for the Tajo-Segura. “We were present to support the voices against the cut of our water supply,” Mayor Butron told The Leader.
“We attended supporting our irrigators, with José Antonio Andújar president of the Right Bank Irrigation Community, who is a great example of struggle in defense of the transfer. We thank Pepito.
“The Tajo-Segura transfer is inalienable, water is life and economic development. “Politics is not done with water, it is a duty to defend and support our irrigators,” added Mayor Butron.
The Tagus-Segura Water Transfer – Trasvase Tajo-Segura – is one of the largest works of hydraulic engineering ever produced in Spain.
Water from the Tagus River is channeled through this transfer system from the reservoirs of Entrepeñas (Province of Guadalajara) and Buendía (Province of Cuenca) into the Talave Reservoir on the Mundo River, a tributary of the Segura River.
The transfer system project through the Ministerial Order of July 30, 1966, commissioned the drafting of the Anteproyecto General del Aprovechamiento Conjunto de los Recursos Hidráulicos del Centro y Sureste de España, Complejo Tajo-Segura (General Proposal for the Joint Management of Hydraulic Resources in Central and Southeastern Spain, Tagus-Segura System).
The construction of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer formed an integral part of this proposal. In 1979, the Segura Basin received the first waters originating from the Tagus River.
The Tagus-Segura Water Transfer links the Bolarque Reservoir on the Tagus River with the Talave Reservoir on the Segura.
Law 21/2013 introduced major changes to the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer’s regulation policy.
Water is dispensed into the transfer system on a monthly basis, depending on the total water supply available in the reservoirs of Entrepeñas and Buendía.
Resources authorised for transfer may be used throughout the water year.
Authorised transfers will be divided between water supply and irrigation, in a 25% to 75% proportion respectively.
La Pedrera Reservoir
Its principal component is the Ojós Diversion Dam, from which proceed the Blanca elevation, the main canal of the right riverbank, and the Almería Canal; the main canal of the left riverbank and the Crevillente Canal; and La Pedrera Reservoir and the Campo de Cartagena Canal.
Volumes transferred for public use have not varied greatly over time, unlike irrigation transfers.
The food and agriculture industry linked with the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer brings in hundreds of millions of euros and over 100,000 jobs, including commercialisation and processing activities.
The Tagus-Segura Water Transfer has always been the subject of heated debate and receives much criticism today, mainly for territorial and environmental reasons.
The official launching of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer made intensive farming possible in the Spanish southeast, consequently placing the region among the largest European outdoor producers of out-of-season crops – known as the ‘vegetable garden of Europe.’
Caption: Mayor José Butron (2nd right) and Councillors support rally in Alicante against transfer of water for Tajo-Segura.
