The minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, reported on Monday the completion of the first phase of the works to improve the Marbella desalination plant, which has gone from producing 6 to 12 cubic hectometres and which will triple the initial production, reaching 20 hm3, foreseeably, in the first quarter of the year, once the second phase has been completed. 

This was indicated by Fernández-Pacheco, who on Monday visited the two emergency works at this plant included in the Drought Plus Strategy, accompanied by mayors and mayoresses of the Malaga coast, including the mayoress of Mijas, Ana Mata (PP), as well as representatives of the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol.  

 

According to Fernández-Pacheco, on the one hand, an action is being carried out to recover the initial capacity of 20 hm3, with an investment of 4,353,351.39 euros, and, on the other hand, other works are being carried out to improve the quality of the water, for 2,995,887.40 euros. In this sense, the Minister continued, the Andalusian Government decided to take on these works, which are the responsibility of the central government, to "help a region, the Costa del Sol, which triples its population in summer and which is an economic engine for the province of Malaga, for Andalusia and for Spain". 

Thus, after highlighting that the production that this desalination plant in Marbella will reach represents between 15 and 20 percent of the needs of the Costa del Sol, the Minister also pointed out that the remodelling of this plan will not only satisfy the demands of this region facing the drought situation, but that, "in case of need and possible surpluses, it will also allow resources to be transferred to the capital of Málaga, the Campo de Gibraltar and even to La Axarquía". 

For Fernández-Pacheco, desalination is one of the most satisfactory solutions to the lack of rainfall in a hydrological year that ends on the 30th and which has not been "good". The mayoress of Mijas, Ana Mata, also referred to this aspect, adding that "we are facing a situation in which little rainfall is expected and we have to use all these possibilities in terms of water to guarantee the water supply throughout the Costa del Sol, which is constantly growing and with tourism as the main economic sector".

For his part, the president of the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol and Acosol, Manuel Cardeña, thanked the ‘belligerence’ with which the Junta has implemented these two emergency works. "We have to continue working to ensure the growth of the Costa del Sol, and to this end, always hand in hand with the Junta de Andalucía, we must also make the use of reclaimed water popular on a daily basis" he commented, to which the mayoress of Mijas also stated that "we have to continue using reclaimed water for day-to-day matters, such as washing or cleaning certain areas, always considering health , but it is a resource that we have and that allows us to reduce the consumption of potable water".

 

Other actions in the province of Malaga 

Other actions in the province of Malaga 
During his speech, Fernández-Pacheco listed other water-related actions that benefit the Costa del Sol, announcing the completion of the improvement of the capacity of the Rojas pumping station in Churriana, works that double the interconnection capacity between Malaga and the Western Costa del Sol, increasing the capacity of the station to 500 litres per second in both directions. To this end, an investment of more than one million euros has been made, which will allow the maintenance of 12hm3 for this new phase of the Autovía del Agua. 

He also announced that the Andalusian Government is finalising the tender for more than 37 million euros for the project and expansion work on the Río Verde Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) in Marbella. This will improve both the quality of the water and the pipes of an essential infrastructure for this area, which dates back to the early 1970s and has become "completely obsolete". This tender will also double the treatment capacity, from 173,000 cubic metres a day to 400,000. 

The Andalusian Government has also completed the improvement of the interconnection between the Western Costa del Sol and Malaga after an investment of more than one million euros, which allows greater transfer capacity between the two systems depending on the hydrological situation of both, and the work is underway to recover the wells of the Lower Guadalhorce with a planned investment of more than 15.4 million euros, which will increase the guarantee of supply to the city of Malaga. 

 

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