28 Nov The president of the CHMS brings together the collegiate bodies of the demarcation, the Governing Board, the Committee of Competent Authorities and the Water Council.
- The draft budget of the CHMS for 2023, which amounts to €48 million, was explained to the Governing Board.
- “The commitment to the programme of cleaning and conditioning of watercourses is consolidated, increasing by 0.7 million in relation to the increase in the previous year,” explained the president.
- Hydrological Plan: of the 279 bodies of surface water, 78.49 % are in good condition, while the percentage of groundwater is 67 %.
- Drought: special emphasis was placed on the fact that the rains recorded during October and November contributed to improving the situation, although the deficit in rainfall means that the drought scenario persists.
The Miño-Sil River Basin District Authority (CHMS), an autonomous body under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), this morning brought together the demarcation’s governing, participation and cooperation bodies – Governing Board, Committee of Competent Authorities and the Water Council – to report on the consolidated contents of the draft hydrological plan for the 2022-2027 cycle, the drought situation and the draft budget for next year.
BUDGET 2023
The CHMS presented to the members of the Governing Board the draft budget for 2023, which amounts to 48.16 million euros. The CHMS continues to be a clearly investing body, as 64 % of its expenditure budget is earmarked for investment. In this sense, “the commitment to the programme of cleaning and conditioning of watercourses is consolidated, increasing by 0.7 million in relation to what was already increased in the previous year,” said the president.
“Law 7/2022, on Waste, provides the basin organisations with 50 % of the revenue from the hydroelectric canon, a percentage that until now was 2 %, which will allow the organisations to be self-financing in the future,” explained Quiroga.
HYDROLOGICAL PLAN
The report on the development and monitoring of the application of the current hydrological plan was presented and the main data relating to the evolution of the demarcation’s water resources during the year 2020/2021, consumptive water demands, compliance with ecological flows, as well as the status of the demarcation’s bodies of water and the progress of the programme of measures, flood situations and scenarios in terms of prolonged drought and cyclical shortages were related.
According to the last assessment carried out in 2021, 219 surface water bodies reach good status out of the 279 delimited (78.49 %). As for groundwater, 67 % of them reach good status and 2 were diagnosed as poor. The degree of progress of the programme of measures is 57.50 %, with an investment of 252 million euros having been made.
DROUGHT SITUATION
On the other hand, and in compliance with the special plan of action in situations of alert and possible drought, the main hydro-meteorological data for the recently completed hydrological year 2021/2022 were presented, as well as those for the year 2022/2023, which began on 1 October.
It was noted that the 2021/2022 hydrological year was the second driest year in the historical series, 1980-2021, after 2016/2017, with an average accumulated rainfall of 694.6 l/m2, 39 % below the historical average.
With regard to the hydrological year that has just begun (2022/2023), the average accumulated rainfall in the demarcation up to 20 November is 284.8 l/m2, 21 % above the average. However, if we take into account the average accumulated rainfall over the last 12 months, this is still 25 % below the usual values for the time of year, which means that the situation of prolonged drought continues throughout the territory of the demarcation.
Similarly, the reservoirs are at 45.22 % of their maximum capacity. This volume is 4.92 % higher than the amount of water stored a year ago, 40.29 %, and 7.98 % lower than the historical average filling at this time of year, 53.2 %. Flows in the watercourses are still an average of 29 % lower than usual.
Therefore, although the rains recorded during October and November have helped to improve the situation, the accumulated rainfall deficit over the last 12 months means that the drought scenario persists. Medium-term forecasts until the end of January seem to predict rainfall within the normal range and, therefore, an improvement in the current scenarios.
Source: CHMS