Drought and pollution leaves thousands without drinking water in southern Spain
In drought-hit southern Spain, a cistern truck has been delivering drinking water for over a week to about 80,000 people because their local reservoir, Sierra Boyera, has dried out and the water in the alternative dam is unsuitable for human consumption
“I have never experienced this before,” said resident Mari Carmen from the village of Alcaracejos, one of the 27 affected villages near Cordoba, in the Andalusia region, after filling her bottles with water from a truck.
On April 9 the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation (GHG) certified that the water of Sierra Boyera had been exhausted making it the first time in 40 years that a reservoir in Cordoba has dried out.
“We are being supplied with water through a cistern truck. It is a rather uncomfortable situation and, above all, precarious for the times in which we live”, Alcaracejos Mayor Jose Luis Cabrera told Reuters.
La Colada reservoir, which should supply Sierra Boyera with water when levels are low, currently does not meet European water quality standards the mayor said.
The summers are getting longer and longer and, of course, evaporation takes its toll also there is this strong drought that we were not used to. The fact that it just rained for two days in 2023, everything has conspired to create the perfect storm,” Cabrera said.
To deal with the water shortage, local authorities provide each resident with five litres of drinking water per day from trucks that deliver the liquid to the affected villages.
Most people try to get more on the same day, so they do not need to return every day.
They are afraid this situation will be prolonged through the summer when they fear their taps will run completely dry.
"We feel a little helpless because they do not tell us anything," said local Nazaret, 24, after filling two bottles at Pedroches Square, in front of Alcaracejos Town Hall.
Spain has had 36 consecutive months of below-average rainfall. Reservoirs are on average at 50% of their capacity, however, in the northeastern region of Catalonia and the southern region of Andalusia, levels have fallen to approximately 25%.
Reuters
