The president of the Diputación de Alicante, Carlos Mazón, has celebrated the arrival of water to the province from the Júcar-Vinalopó transfer, although he has warned that this transfer “will only be a little bit of shade in the middle of a very complicated desert” if The closure of the Vinalopó aquifers “indiscriminately and politically and without any technical basis” is confirmed in the coming weeks by the Government of Spain, and through the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation.
Mazón, who attended the event in Aspe organized by the Central Board of Users of Vinalopó, L’Alacantí and the Marina Baja Water Consortium to commemorate the entry of water from this infrastructure together with the vice president and deputy for the Water Cycle, Ana Serna, has highlighted that “it is a historic day as a result of the sweat, effort and resignation of many Vinalopó irrigators over the last few years”, although – he has warned – “there are still many challenges ahead”.
In this sense, he has pointed out that if the closure of the aquifers is finally decreed, “this historic day will be useless because the proportion of the damage will be one to seven”, for which he has claimed that the transfer of 18.8hm3 approved for this year is linked to that decision to be addressed by the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation next month.
“It is essential that the Government of Spain understands that the aquifers cannot be politically paralyzed,” added the president, who also warned that, although this first transfer has been approved for 2022, “we still do not know what will happen after December and at what price the irrigators will have to pay for the water».
Finally, Mazón has reiterated that both from the Diputación de Alicante and from the Provincial Water Board «we are going to continue supporting the irrigators and farmers of Vinalopó, since there are many demands and a lot of justice to be done with the water that the province deserves from Alicante”.
