Bill to transfer 19.99 cubic hectometers of water to the Guadalquivir basin

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The text approved by the Ecological Transition Committee authorizes a transfer of up to 19.99 cubic hectometers per year of surface water from the Tinto, Odiel and Piedras basin to the Guadalquivir basin. The goal is to secure drinking water for the towns of El Condado de Huelva, improve irrigation reliability, and help recover the aquifers around Doñana.
2. The transferred water could only be used for public supply and to irrigate farmland covered by the special plan for irrigated areas north of the Doñana forest belt. Using it for new urban developments, or to create or expand irrigated land outside that area, would be banned.
3. Users of the transfer would have to pay regulation fees and water use tariffs, under the cost recovery principle. Any storage infrastructure needed would preferably be built in the receiving basin.
4. All projects related to the transfer, both in the donor and receiving basins, would undergo environmental impact assessment, individually and jointly.
5. The works needed for the transfer, listed in Annex I, would be declared of general interest to the State. That declaration would depend on a report proving their economic, technical, social and environmental feasibility.
6. A technical management committee would be created, with representatives from the Ministry, the basin authorities and users, to decide transfer volumes based on hydrological conditions. The text repeals the earlier 2008 and 2015 agreements and the 2016 order that regulated the previous 4.99 cubic hectometer transfer.

Who it affects

• The municipalities of El Condado de Huelva: Their water supply, currently unreliable from the Corumbel reservoir or dependent on the Almonte-Marismas aquifer, would become more secure.
• Farmers irrigating north of Doñana: They could replace groundwater from the Almonte-Marismas aquifer with transferred surface water, and would have to pay fees and tariffs.
• The donor basin of the Tinto, Odiel and Piedras: Its own needs would be guaranteed before any water is transferred, and works such as the Alcolea and Coronada dams would be prioritized.
• Doñana National Park: The bill aims to reduce aquifer exploitation and support its recharge, improving the water balance of the area.

Words worth knowing

Hm3 (cubic hectometer)

A unit of water volume. One cubic hectometer equals one million cubic meters, or one billion liters.

Demarcación hidrográfica (river basin district)

The territory whose waters drain into the same basin or sea, managed as a unit to plan water use.

Cuenca cedente y receptora (donor and receiving basin)

The donor basin gives up water in the transfer; the receiving basin takes it.

Acuífero (aquifer)

A natural underground deposit of water stored between layers of soil and rock.

Caudal ecológico (environmental flow)

The minimum amount of water a river must keep so its ecosystems can survive.

It summarizes the text passed by the committee. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries