last October, Gonzalo G. Barberá (Cartagena, 53 years), a scientist at the Center of Edaphology and Applied Biology of the Segura, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), resigned along with other researchers of the Advisory Committee of the mar Menor that was created in the fall of 2016. What is left after the last crisis of the pond in which appeared thousands of fish and crustaceans, dead on its shores. “We were not an independent body as it should be a scientific committee,” he explains. Barbera, expert in the discharge of water that will reach the mar Menor from the aquifer of the quaternary, calls for a long-term solution to get the involvement of farmers.
Question. does the new law decree?
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Response. Something you can contribute but it is difficult to make a good act in two months. I believe, moreover, that in Spain we have too much faith in laws and rules, and we do little emphasis on how to implement them, in instruments and in the human resources. The key issue is the involvement of the agricultural sector. It is much more important that they are the engine of change to to 100,000 standards. The document states that you can not fertilize at 500 meters, but I doubt that it has evaluated the impact of applying this measure. It is not that I think it bad, but in all of the north shore, about 18 miles, there is nothing, and in the south, there are two areas that are protected areas. Keep in mind that, in the end, the nitrates do not come in the mar Menor area but coming in from below, the aquifer full of nutrients. It is when it rains when you drag the fertilizer in the ground and come from far beyond, even 30 kilometers. Therefore, its effectiveness is limited.
Q. What are the problems of this salty lake, the largest in Europe?
A. Basically, the agriculture hyperintensities that generates a runoff with a lot of nutrients. In terms of the wastewater in 2000, there was problems, but now it’s something very marginal, although there is some sewage as that of Torre-Pacheco that overflows in a few moments.
Q. is There any way to put a brake?
A. we Need a solution in the very long term. A problem for 50 or 60 years old needs to measures well-designed and the involvement of the sector. It is a very slow process. We have an aquifer with a lot of water that continues to discharge to the mar Menor and that is not so easy to ease in a month or a year. They need to build infrastructures that are very complex seen from the point of technical, economic and legal. Politicians believe that all is arranged with a button.
Q. are There any farmers that are changing?
A. , I know of particular cases that have an interest in changing the policies of fertilization and are worried. Overall not what I know.
Q. how Are you connected with the civil part of the society?
A. In our center had a scientific committee, but we have lacked to offer a structured information to the society, especially to farmers. There has been a communication architecture. In the Field of Cartagena, the technical level of farmers is very high both in logistics and in market. His ability for dialogue is very good, but the problem is in the leadership in agriculture, that is very poor. Many farmers are ahead of the farmers ‘ unions and boards, and the lobbies that move all of this. The farmers defend their own and are going to minimize your cost, but would be moving more.
