The Spanish Government Ends the Tajo-Segura Water Transfer

The government of Pedro Sánchez remains steadfast in its agenda to minimise, if not eliminate, the Tajo-Segura water transfer. The replacement of Teresa Ribera, now Vice President of the European Commission, with Sara Aagesen has not altered the new rules governing the transfer. The Ministry for Ecological Transition has increased the necessary flow levels for transfers, making them nearly impossible to achieve, while simultaneously reducing the amount diverted from the donor basin. However, these transfers are now mandatory rather than at the Ministry's discretion.

Under these new Tajo-Segura exploitation rules, presented on Tuesday at the Central Commission, it is anticipated that water for irrigation will be cut by up to 50% starting in 2027. This is seen as a «punishment» to Alicante province, according to the regional Minister of Agriculture, Miguel Barrachina.

These are the same measures Ribera presented to the now-defunct Botànic government when she unilaterally broke the agreement reached with former President Ximo Puig. This means the minimum flow levels set in the Tajo plan are increased: 7 m³/second this year in the Aranjuez section, 8 m³/s in 2026, and 8.6 m³/s in 2027.

Meanwhile, the transfer levels decrease from the 24 cubic hectometres per month planned for 2025 to 18 hm³ in 2027 at level 2. At level 3, the aqueduct can only transport 11 hm³ per month this year and 9 hm³ in 2027. Regarding level 1, the Ministry maintains the previously established transfer amount (60 hm³ per month) but raises the threshold that the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs must reach to 1,600 hm³, 300 hectometres more than before. In a period of water abundance like the current one, with 1,527 hm³, it would not be possible to authorise the maximum transfers of 60 hm³ per month, but only 24.

To meet the necessary releases that cover the new ecological flows, the level 3 floor is also raised to 531 hm³ by 2027, compared to the current 400 hm³. Below this new figure, level 4 would be imposed, which would entail closing the aqueduct, a scenario that could be reached with greater probability in two years.

As a novelty, if at level 3 storage, transfers will be automatic and amount to 11 cubic hectometres. Until now, it was the Ministry of Ecological Transition that made the decision, being able to transfer up to 20 hectometres in each batch.

«The decision by Pedro Sánchez's government represents a lethal blow to the transfer system, considered essential for the supply and development of Alicante province. By raising the threshold of reserves in the headwater reservoirs to authorise maximum transfers, an almost impossible condition is imposed, even in times of water abundance, which seriously limits its viability,« Barrachina has denounced.

He also added that this decision, «without technical support and purely political, ignores the real needs of millions of people and the agricultural sector, generating uncertainty, territorial resentment, and jeopardising the economic development of one of the country's most productive areas.»

The Ministry has called a new meeting of the Central Commission for the Exploitation of the Aqueduct next week, where it will present the final draft of the Royal Decree, with the changes planned at least for this year in the Transfer rules. This proposal must go through public consultation so that Ecological Transition can receive contributions. Its final approval, pending consultation with the National Water Council, would be subject to the rulings issued by the Supreme Court on the appeals filed against the Tajo hydrological plan.