ISSUE NO. 1666
8 - 14 June 2017
COSTA BLANCA SOUTH
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Drought risk Driest spring for 150 years raises fears
VALENCIA: Temperatures rising. By Matt Ford As a blast of hot Saharan air sweeps the Valencian Community, with temperatures set to remain in excess of 30°C until Sunday, the effects of climate change are being felt across the region. The area has suffered its driest spring for 150 years, while the current sea temperature of 23°C is two degrees above the average for the time of year, raising drought fears.
Only the Tajo-Segura transfer system is guaranteed to deliver water to domestic supplies until the end of October as dams sit at dangerously low levels with desalinisation plants unable to cope with demand. The crisis was exacerbated during May, when the normal rains failed to arrive and the average air temperature of 19°C also exceeded normal maximums by two degrees. Total rainfall was 11.1 square litres per square metre, 75 per
cent less than the 1981-2010 average of 47.3 litres. Farmers are likely to be worst affected as the Torrevieja desalinisation plant is to charge 50 cents per cubic metre of water, four times that in other areas, while current reserves of 21hm3, all that remains for the remainder of the year, represent the equivalent of a single month’s supply. The Segura dam is at just 31 per cent of capacity and the Jucar 38 per cent.
Summer madness at airport! NATIONAL airports manager AENA has introduced a swathe of special measures at AlicanteElche airport ahead of the upcoming peak tourist season in July and August. It comes as 11.5 million tickets for connections between the airport and 115 destinations
are expected to be sold between now and the end of October, a 14 per cent increase on 2016. In the wake of devastating terror attacks in the UK and Western Europe, security will be boosted with state forces providing backup at security checks and passport controls.
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