By JENNIFER O'MAHONY
AP
yesterday
A pond is filled with water from the Arteson river and used by local olive farmers in the southern town of Quesada, Andalusia, a rural community in the heartland of Spain's olive country, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. Spain's Civil Guard said Friday, May 5, 2023, it had arrested 26 people in raids on illegal wells in the Andalusia region, as part of a widening crackdown on unauthorized water use amid a prolonged drought. Spain's central government is urging increasingly strict rules on water use in Andalusia, the world's most important region for olive oil production and a key source of fruits and vegetables for the European export market.
A pond is filled with water from the Arteson river and used by local olive farmers in the southern town of Quesada, Andalusia, a rural community in the heartland of Spain's olive country, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. Spain's Civil Guard said Friday, May 5, 2023, it had arrested 26 people in raids on illegal wells in the Andalusia region, as part of a widening crackdown on unauthorized water use amid a prolonged drought. Spain's central government is urging increasingly strict rules on water use in Andalusia, the world's most important region for olive oil production and a key source of fruits and vegetables for the European export market.
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Civil Guard said Tuesday it had arrested 26 people in raids on illegal wells in the Andalusia region, as part of a widening crackdown on unauthorized water use amid a prolonged drought.
The Civil Guard’s environmental crimes division said it had identified 250 infractions by fruit farmers including illegal wells and boreholes in the Axarquia area, east of the coastal city of Malaga. It estimated the damage to public water infrastructure at 10 million euros ($10.95 million).
Spain’s central government is urging increasingly strict rules on water use in Andalusia, the world’s most important region for olive oil production and a key source of fruits and vegetables for the European export market.
Record-breaking April temperatures in Andalusia have coupled with a chronic lack of rainfall. Water reservoirs in the Guadalquivir river basin, which runs through the territory, are only about a quarter full, at 27.95%, even before summer has begun. Farmers in the region have had their water allowance for irrigation cut by up to 90% in some cases.
The situation in the vast agricultural heartland and in northeastern Catalonia means that Spain’s total water reserves nationally have dipped to 48.9%.
April was also Spain’s driest ever. Currently, 27% of Spanish territory is in either the drought “emergency” or “alert” category. Farmers across the Western Mediterranean have warned that crop failures are likely.
Water resources in Spain have meanwhile become increasingly politicized ahead of May 28 local elections. The left-wing central government has criticized Andalusia’s right-wing regional administration for attempting to declare an amnesty for illegal wells around the region’s Doñana wetlands, in contravention of European Union law.
Meanwhile, the far-right in Spain has used social media to perpetrate disinformation about a government official falsely ordering reservoirs to be emptied.
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Civil Guard said Tuesday it had arrested 26 people in raids on illegal wells in the Andalusia region, as part of a widening crackdown on unauthorized water use amid a prolonged drought.
The Civil Guard’s environmental crimes division said it had identified 250 infractions by fruit farmers including illegal wells and boreholes in the Axarquia area, east of the coastal city of Malaga. It estimated the damage to public water infrastructure at 10 million euros ($10.95 million).
Spain’s central government is urging increasingly strict rules on water use in Andalusia, the world’s most important region for olive oil production and a key source of fruits and vegetables for the European export market.
Record-breaking April temperatures in Andalusia have coupled with a chronic lack of rainfall. Water reservoirs in the Guadalquivir river basin, which runs through the territory, are only about a quarter full, at 27.95%, even before summer has begun. Farmers in the region have had their water allowance for irrigation cut by up to 90% in some cases.
The situation in the vast agricultural heartland and in northeastern Catalonia means that Spain’s total water reserves nationally have dipped to 48.9%.
April was also Spain’s driest ever. Currently, 27% of Spanish territory is in either the drought “emergency” or “alert” category. Farmers across the Western Mediterranean have warned that crop failures are likely.
Water resources in Spain have meanwhile become increasingly politicized ahead of May 28 local elections. The left-wing central government has criticized Andalusia’s right-wing regional administration for attempting to declare an amnesty for illegal wells around the region’s Doñana wetlands, in contravention of European Union law.
Meanwhile, the far-right in Spain has used social media to perpetrate disinformation about a government official falsely ordering reservoirs to be emptied.
Half of US West out of drought, but not fully recovered
By BRITTANY PETERSON
By BRITTANY PETERSON
AP
yesterday
1 of 7
A bathtub ring shows where the water mark on Lake Mead once was along the boarder of Nevada and Arizona, March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev. Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought, but intense water challenges persist, scientists said Tuesday, May 9. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
DENVER (AP) — Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought this spring, but the welcome wet conditions haven’t entirely replenished the region, scientists said Tuesday.
Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance.
This winter brought bountiful and persistent snow from the Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains, stranding residents in their homes while setting accumulation records and pulling a large swath of the region out of drought. The quantity of precipitation is impressive, but the fact that snow stuck around this late in the season is perhaps more rare, said Joseph Casola, NOAA’s western regional climate services director.
“With climate warming, the odds for such a long-lived anomaly of cold over a large area like the West — the odds for that just go down and down,” Casola said.
A continued slow melt helps reduce danger of flooding and delays the onset of the worst wildfire danger in the region. Meanwhile, all that rain and snow means California can provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years, and is flooding farmland with surplus runoff to replenish precious groundwater.
The big question is how much relief this winter’s snow will bring to the Colorado River, which has been depleted by climate change, rising demand and overuse.
A May 1 forecast by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center said up to 11 million acre-feet of water, or 172% of average, could flow into Lake Powell, a massive reservoir that stores Colorado River water for Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico and dozens of tribes. That amount could be less depending on how much water the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spreads among upstream reservoirs.
According to the Bureau’s 24-month operating plan, Lake Powell could rise to around 3,590 feet by mid-summer, up 60 feet from its current state. That’s a level that hasn’t been seen since 2020.
The robust winter takes some pressure off the system and gives states a bit more room to reach an agreement on how to implement water cuts, said Jennifer Pitt of the National Audubon Society, who is working to restore rivers throughout the basin.
As Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit record low levels last summer, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation told states they would need to cut their water use by 15% to 30%. Those cuts are still being negotiated, while federal officials consider holding back more water at the major dams.
“If everybody plays a part in solving the problem and we don’t place the problem entirely on any one user or one sector or one geography, then by spreading the pain, maybe it hurts a little less all the way around,” Pitt said. ___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
1 of 7
A bathtub ring shows where the water mark on Lake Mead once was along the boarder of Nevada and Arizona, March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev. Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought, but intense water challenges persist, scientists said Tuesday, May 9. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
DENVER (AP) — Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought this spring, but the welcome wet conditions haven’t entirely replenished the region, scientists said Tuesday.
Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance.
This winter brought bountiful and persistent snow from the Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains, stranding residents in their homes while setting accumulation records and pulling a large swath of the region out of drought. The quantity of precipitation is impressive, but the fact that snow stuck around this late in the season is perhaps more rare, said Joseph Casola, NOAA’s western regional climate services director.
“With climate warming, the odds for such a long-lived anomaly of cold over a large area like the West — the odds for that just go down and down,” Casola said.
A continued slow melt helps reduce danger of flooding and delays the onset of the worst wildfire danger in the region. Meanwhile, all that rain and snow means California can provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years, and is flooding farmland with surplus runoff to replenish precious groundwater.
The big question is how much relief this winter’s snow will bring to the Colorado River, which has been depleted by climate change, rising demand and overuse.
A May 1 forecast by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center said up to 11 million acre-feet of water, or 172% of average, could flow into Lake Powell, a massive reservoir that stores Colorado River water for Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico and dozens of tribes. That amount could be less depending on how much water the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spreads among upstream reservoirs.
According to the Bureau’s 24-month operating plan, Lake Powell could rise to around 3,590 feet by mid-summer, up 60 feet from its current state. That’s a level that hasn’t been seen since 2020.
The robust winter takes some pressure off the system and gives states a bit more room to reach an agreement on how to implement water cuts, said Jennifer Pitt of the National Audubon Society, who is working to restore rivers throughout the basin.
As Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit record low levels last summer, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation told states they would need to cut their water use by 15% to 30%. Those cuts are still being negotiated, while federal officials consider holding back more water at the major dams.
“If everybody plays a part in solving the problem and we don’t place the problem entirely on any one user or one sector or one geography, then by spreading the pain, maybe it hurts a little less all the way around,” Pitt said. ___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
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