New bad news from Doñana. Its largest permanent lagoon, that of Santa Olalla, completely dries up again for the second consecutive year, something that has not happened since records were kept, as indicated by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). The severe drought that the area suffers, together with the overexploitation of the aquifer, are the two causes that have caused this point to also run out of water. A "serious situation" that has a negative impact on the biodiversity that the National Park houses, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, which served as a refuge for several endangered and endemic species.
It was Wednesday when the Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) Doñana Biological Reserve, dependent on the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) of the CSIC, "confirmed its complete desiccation", highlighting the "deterioration of the lagoon system ”, many of which have disappeared in recent years.
According to data from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), the year 2022 has been one of the driest that has occurred since 1961 in Spain, with an average rainfall at the national level of 536 mm, 84% of the normal value in the reference period 1981-2010.
It does not rain, and when it does, it is insufficient for the recovery of the Doñana lagoon system where the flood period lasts less and less, and even many of them no longer flood. The ICTS-Doñana Biological Reserve, through the Monitoring Program, has verified that the 2021-22 hydrological cycle has been the year with the lowest precipitation levels in the last 10 years (283mm), and this 2023 the situation is not it is much better (337mm until August).
On the other hand, the high temperatures that are being recorded further complicate the situation in the Park. In the last two years, mercury has reached very high maximum levels and the highest average annual temperature recorded, 18.53 degrees Celsius, which has contributed to the drying out of the territory.
According to a study by the Doñana Biological Station, 59% of the largest lagoons have already disappeared as a result of the heat and lack of rain, but the entity also points to a third, no less important factor: overexploitation of the aquifer.
According to the CSIC, 80% of the lagoon system dried up earlier than would be expected with the recorded temperature and precipitation levels, and 84% of the lagoons were flooded less than expected. Behind this phenomenon is the hand of man, whose activity is altering the natural balance of the area.
Intensive agriculture in the area and illegal water withdrawals from the aquifer are seriously endangering the survival of the area. It is not a new issue, in fact, the irrigation plan is part of the regional political agenda, and has been the object of more than one slap on the wrist by Europe. "If policies such as those that the PP intends to carry out in Doñana continue, such as the amnesty of illegal farms (regularization of up to 2,000 hectares of irrigated land)" it is unfeasible "for the levels of the aquifer to be recovered", has indicated the coordinator of the WWF office in Doñana, Juanjo Carmona, who argues that the current situation of the Park "demonstrates the mismanagement that has been carried out in recent years in relation to the aquifer and the over-extraction to which groundwater has been subjected."
For his part, the director of the Doñana Biological Station, Eloy Revilla, asks to remove this space "from the political game", and points to the need for all administrations, given the complex division of powers in the area, to feel " to work together to design and execute" the plan for the Doñana forest crown, approved in 2014. "They have to agree and coordinate their actions," he said.
Revilla highlights the "serious problem" in which agriculture is found, although it is true that another factor to take into account and that affects the mass tourism experienced by the Huelva town of Matalascañas and the resources it consumes in summer .
Regarding the consumption of water for agricultural uses, especially in strawberry crops, the director of the Doñana Biological Station insists on the need to find a balance based on the situation and adjust the exploitation and demand to "the current conditions we have ”. “It's not that we have to decide between Doñana and agriculture, that doesn't work that way. Agriculture occurs in an environment and that environment has to be well preserved”, he declares, it is about “using the resources within the area in a reasonable and sustainable manner”. That is, knowing well how much water is available in each cycle and what proportion of it can be used for irrigation without endangering the Doñana aquifer, ensuring the survival of the ecosystem and its biodiversity.
But there is one more edge to the problem of the disappearance of the lagoon system: tourism. Specifically, in the northeast area of the Park and in the lagoons near Matalascañas, a coastal municipality in Huelva that goes from an average of 2,800 inhabitants throughout the year to more than 100,000 in summer, with its consequent collection of water for consumption, as well as such as the water destined for the intensive strawberry crops located around it which, according to the CSIC, "have increased their area by more than 30% in recent years", extremes that must be counteracted.
The CSIC also considers it "worrying" that 19% of the lagoons that still exist have more than half of their basin invaded by scrub and pine trees and only 10%, mainly located on the shore, remain in good condition. In another recently published study, the Doñana Biological Station concludes that the invasion of the lagoon basins by terrestrial vegetation is a good indicator to detect their progressive deterioration and their imminent disappearance.
These symptoms are especially detected in the northwestern area of the national park and in the lagoons closest to Matalascañas, including Santa Olalla, where dense rushes can already be seen in the middle of its floodplain and masses of shrubs that have colonized its current shores and islets.
Both the WWF and the CSIC request an "urgent reduction" in the amount of water extracted from the aquifer to levels that "allow the recovery of the lagoon system and stop the degradation of the natural space."
On the other hand, from the Doñana Biological Station it is requested to update the evaluation system of the state of the aquifer and carry out annual evaluations of the availability of water to define the maximum amounts of extraction allowed and the saving measures that must be adopted; "urgently" restore the governance of water management and land use planning in the Doñana region so that they "are within the current legality" and, "of course, protect the agricultural sector that operates under the law against the loss of brand value of their products in the face of unfair competition from illegal producers and in the face of the uncertainty that threatens them in the future”.
Finally, it emphasizes the need to establish the Doñana 2030 Work Commission, so that all the problems that threaten the Park are covered, such as water contamination or intense overgrazing.
