The Valencian Government appeals to the Council of State to defend the Tajo-Segura transfer

Several members of the Círculo por el Agua, an entity formed by the Water tables of the Region of Murcia, Almería and Alicante, gather in defense of the Tajo-Segura Transfer, in front of the Palau de la Generalitat Valenciana, on December 20, 2022 .Monica Torres

The Valencian president, the socialist Ximo Puig, has sent a letter to the Council of State requesting an audience to see the final wording that has reached the aforementioned consultative body of the draft Royal Decree of the Tagus basin plan, which affects the transfer to the Segura river , on which thousands of Alicante farmers depend.

The Valencian Executive fears – although it acknowledges that it has no official confirmation – that the Ministry of Ecological Transition has eliminated the clause that would safeguard the transfer of water beyond 2025, agreed with Puig.

The regulatory project approved by the National Water Council included, according to the Generalitat, a point —the ninth additional provision— essential to guarantee the maintenance of the Tajo-Segura transfer, which, according to the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct, generates more than 100,000 jobs and whose agri-food industry contributes 3,000 million euros to the national GDP.

This provision proposes that from 2025 the state of the Tagus be evaluated and, depending on the result, "the ecological flow of the river should be raised or not".

Otherwise, the gradual increase in the ecological water reserve will reduce the excess water for Segura within a period of three or four years.

The Valencian Government assures that any modification or deletion of it, included in that latest draft decree law held by the Council of State, will find the "firmest rejection" of the autonomous Executive, sources from the Generalitat warn.

Puig demands that the third vice president Teresa Ribera maintain the clause: "The Valencian Generalitat will undertake all the actions in its power to defend the continuity of the Tajo-Segura transfer and thus support the just demands of the Alicante irrigators", he assures.

The Council of State must now issue an opinion on the draft royal decree relating to the river basin management plans of certain demarcations before submitting them to the Council of Ministers for final approval.

For this reason, the Consell has requested a hearing from the Government's advisory body to be able to make allegations, while reaffirming its commitment in defense of Valencian irrigators and its willingness to exhaust all possible avenues to guarantee the transfer of water.

In addition, the Valencian Executive has received with astonishment the decision of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the public company Acuamed, which manages desalinated water in Spain, to cancel the subsidy that it had been granting to the desalinated water used by the irrigators of the Tajo-Aqueduct. Safe and that will mean, in practice, tripling its prices.

The Generalitat requests a reduction.

Puig has appealed to the Government "to redirect the situation and reconsider its position, because we are talking about a territory where agriculture plays a very important role and is especially sensitive to the price of water."

Puig considers that the current situation "does not make a decision of this nature advisable" and requires the Executive of Pedro Sánchez to "maintain the subsidy for desalinated water so that it is affordable for irrigators."

The president of the Popular Party of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, has reacted to the statements by Ximo Puig, who has said that "he has no moral authority to talk about the transfer."

“We have 22 unjustified cuts in the transfer, without any technical report to support it, and a report in the Council of State with a very serious cut, where Puig has been silent.

He has neither moral nor political authority to speak of transfer.

He has lost it because he continues to want to deceive us, ”said the PP leader.