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Date Published: 20/09/2021
ARCHIVED - New water pipes in San Javier to ease flooding
The 4-million-euro project to collect rain water is due to be completed in 2022
Construction work has started on the drainage system in San Javier in an attempt to reduce flooding. The Regional government of Murcia has allocated 4 million euros to the project, which is due to be completed in 12 months.
The aim of the new building work in San Javier is to install a number of underground water runoff pipes to mitigate the effect of heavy rainfall and stop flooding. The Region of Murcia saw particularly bad floods in the municipality of Águilas due to the DANA storm that hit the east coast of Spain earlier this month.
The new network of pipes in San Javier will connect up to a reservoir that will collect the runoff water so it can be purified and used for irrigation, since farmers are currently banned from watering crops as a measure to stop filtration of nitrates into the Mar Menor sea. The President of the Murcian Region, Fernando López Miras, claimed the initiative “will minimise the impact of torrential rains both in the urban area of the municipality and in the Mar Menor.”
However, pollution and water mismanagement have been plaguing the Mar Menor for years and critics are sceptical that a few extra storm drains are enough to meet targets to reduce contamination and improve the ecological standing of the natural habitat. Ecologists have recommended more far-reaching measures like creating 15,000 hectares of natural wetlands around the Mar Menor coast.
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