The Water Board of Almeria wished to publicly express its support to irrigators of the coast of Granada, who are asking the Ministry of Ecological Transition for the urgent drafting of construction projects to allow them to make good use of the water from the Rules-Béznar system in thousands of hectares of crops located on the coast of Granada.
The Rules Dam was completed in 2003 and its construction cost the State more than 173 million Euro. 16 years later, this amount of money has not served for the dam to fulfill the purpose for which it was built, which is none other than to facilitate the use of the waters collected by the dams of Rules and Béznar for the irrigation of crops in the coast of Granada.
According to the Water Board of Almería, the more than 15 years of delay in the construction of the irrigation pipes is a sign of the highly inefficient public management of water. "For years, the political parties that rule in Madrid and Seville have done nothing to meet the needs of the irrigators of Granada. This is clearly irresponsible and could jeopardize the viability of the booming agriculture of the coast of Granada," says the spokesperson of the Water Board of Almeria, José Antonio Fernández Maldonado.
The Water Board of Almeria has also appealed to political leaders in Granada, Seville and Madrid. "Everyone, regardless of ideology, needs to pitch in the same direction and prevent the use of the Rules water as an electoral weapon," said the spokesperson of the Water Board.
Therefore, the Water Board of Almería agrees with the Manifesto of the Community of Irrigators of the Lower Guadalfeo in Defense of Water, and has asked for a firm commitment from all administrations with the coast of Granada to ensure that next April 1, the MITECO gives Acuamed the 5.9 Million €, budgeted in the General State Budgets of 2017 and 2018.
Source: diariodealmeria.es