"Despite the fact that we are in a period of drought, there will be no restrictions on the water supply (...) There are no problems and there will not be any." This is how emphatic the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has shown herself in an interview with Servimedia in which she praised the control and reuse system of the public entity that manages the resources. "Everything is measured enough so that water is not lost and that the water that reaches the home is reused again."
The Madrid leader has detailed the system in an interview with Servimedia in which she has guaranteed that her executive "has studied it so that there is no lack of water."
However, Ayuso acknowledges that the current is a time of "prevention" in which it is necessary to ask for "help and collaboration" so that citizens make responsible use of resources.
Spanish reservoirs store 28,400 cubic hectometres (hm3) of water on Tuesday, which is 25% less than the average for the last decade at this time of year and the third lowest amount in almost three decades. The situation in Madrid, however, is better given that the reservoirs are this week at 67.08% of their maximum capacity.
It should be remembered that the month of December 2022 was "the fifth rainiest in the series, since 1961", with 193%, almost double the usual rate, especially due to the abundant rains as a result of the Efraín storm. However, January and February have been "dry and very dry" respectively, with 7% rainfall compared to usual in February. In total in winter, 165 liters per square meter were recorded, which is 119% more than usual in the reference period 1991-2020.
The capture through surface waters is carried out in Madrid by taking advantage of the contributions offered by the Lozoya, Jarama-Sorbe, Guadalix, Manzanares, Guadarrama-Aulencia and Alberche rivers, carried out through 13 reservoirs and 6 dams .
The incorporation of groundwater into the supply system of the Community of Madrid also makes it possible to have a greater volume of water with which to meet the needs in periods of drought, when the volumes stored in surface reservoirs decrease. In this section, the main exploited aquifers are: the Cretaceous carbonate aquifer and the tertiary detrital aquifer.
