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Date Published: 28/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Encouragingly low chlorophyll levels in the Mar Menor but salinity remains relatively low
Fresh water from the Rambla del Albujón is keeping salinity low after the flooding of 2019
The latest monthly meeting of the Inter-Administration Mar Menor Forum was held in Los Alcázares last Friday and was attended as usual by representatives of the national government’s Costas department, the regional government of Murcia and the four local governments of the municipalities in which the lagoon lies (Los Alcázares, San Javier, Cartagena and San Pedro del Pinatar.
However, one of the suggestions made by the Mayor of Los Alcázares was that in future the Town Halls of La Unión, Fuente Álamo, Murcia and Torre Pacheco should also be included, as the activity in the parts of the Campo de Cartagena which lie within those municipalities also has an important effect on the marine environment of the Mar Menor.
During the latest meeting updates were presented on the progress of various flood protection infrastructures which have been proposed, including the D7 drainage canal, for which the land needed to amplify the channel is currently being expropriated.
The contract for work on the network of stormwater tanks close to the Polideportivo Municipal in Los Alcázares will be put out to tender during May, while the work at the mouth of the Rambla de La Maraña has now been completed, and the plans for the tanks along the seafront of Los Alcázares are being drawn up for submission to the EU.
Current conditions in the Mar Menor
The average transparency of the water is currently 4.42 metres as opposed to 2.7 metres a year ago, while the oxygen content is slightly higher than in April 2020 at 7.43 milligrams per litre.
Chlorophyll is measured at 0.57 micrograms per litre, and while the average water temperature is half a degree lower than a year ago at 7.7 degrees the salinity is almost 10 per cent higher at 41.15.
In general these are encouraging readings, particularly the low concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll, although salinity is still lower than the level targeted due largely to fresh water making its way into the lagoon from the Rambla del Albujón. The figure is still well short of the level prior to the disastrous gota fría storm of September 2019, which sparked an abrupt fall in salinity from 45 to 39.
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