The Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda has presented two projects to guarantee irrigation support for the Priorat.
The two independent proposals will capture water from the Ebro River to supply the region's swamps and ensure agricultural activity.
The Ministry proposes to take the water from Garcia (Ribera d'Ebre) to the swamp of Els Guiamets and then, to that of Siurana.
As Minister David Mascort explained on Sunday, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation is aware and in parallel, the works on the Reus Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) will open the door to "stop using the concession" of Riudecanyes.
On the other hand, the Generalitat proposes connecting the Margalef reservoir to the Garrigues-sur canal. The forecast is to finish all of 2027 and use 5 hm³ of water annually.
Falset was the meeting point this Sunday between the representatives of the Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda department and the main actors of Priorat. Thus, mayors, irrigation communities and representatives of the wine appellations of origin have heard first-hand about the two projects that aim to guarantee supportive irrigation for the region.
According to Councilor David Mascort, this is a "structural solution" to ensure the future of the area's primary sector, especially the cultivation of vines and olive trees. This year, none of the three Priorat reservoirs have had enough resources for the irrigation campaign.
The point in common between both projects is the source of the water; in both cases it would come from the Ebro river. On the one hand, the connection of the Margalef swamp with the irrigation network of the Garrigues-Sud canal is proposed. This infrastructure, which is estimated to be completed by 2026, will benefit the municipalities of Palma de Ebro Margalef, La Bisbal de Falset, La Figuera, Vilella Baixa and Cabacés, which translates into about 1,400 agricultural hectares in the basin of the Montsant River The Department's forecast is to bid for the drafting of the executive project this year and bid for the works next year.
The second project, more "costly" according to the minister, consists of pumping water from Garcia (Ribera d'Ebre) to the swamp of Els Guiamets in the first term and later, in the swamp of Siurana.
This proposal will affect an irrigation area of 1,588 hectares, distributed among the municipalities of Cornudella de Montsant, el Lloar, Falset, Gratallops, la Morera del Montsant, la Vilella Alta, Poboleda, Porrera, Pradell de la Teixeta and Torroja del Priorat.
In this case, Mascort has pointed out that the project depends on it being included in the next planning of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE), with which he assures that they have already spoken and "it seems that they view it favorably." The ministry's forecast is that the project will be completed in three years, in 2027.
As a whole, the Department estimates that a budget of 60 million euros and an annual volume of water of five hectometers will be required.
According to the president of the County Council of the Priorat, Sergi Méndez, it is a capture of "very low" volumes to guarantee the agricultural future of the county.
"We are not talking about expanding irrigation or giving greater extension to what exists now, it would simply be guaranteeing the survival of our agrarian model," he defended. Along these lines, he has ruled out that the projects will arouse rejection by environmental entities, "especially if the problems of the internal basins are solved" with the commitment to regenerate water from the Reus WWTP.
This has been another of the issues that Councilor Mascort has referred to, who has placed emphasis on the reuse of residual water for irrigation to open the door to ending the transfer between the Siurana reservoir and the Riudecanyes reservoir. "It is evident that the Riudecanyes Irrigators community has a concession and that we must see if we can stop using it, therefore, stop bringing water from Siurana to Riudecanyes, which would be optimal," he stated.
After two hours meeting with the different agents of the region, mayors and irrigation communities have positively valued both proposals, although they have agreed that the problem of drought is already having a direct effect on crops.
This has been warned by the mayor of Bisbal de Falset, Òscar Vidal, who has welcomed the proposal to connect the Margalef reservoir with the Garrigues-sur canal, but has warned that if the lack of rain continues, it will have a direct impact on the survival of trees.
Vidal has demanded a solution for the entire Montsant river basin, albeit provisional, for the next two months.
"The municipalities of Margalef, Bisbal de Falset, Cabacés, La Figuera and Vilella Baixa are hanging on by a thread. If we don't have water in March, I don't know what will happen to the economy of these five towns," he lamented.
Ricard Masip, president of the irrigation community of the Montsant River basin, took the same line. In his opinion, although there is political will to have a solution in the short and medium term, a provisional solution is necessary to avoid the death of the trees during the years in which the project works are expected to be carried out.
On the other hand, he expressed hope that pumping water from the Ebro in a single catchment each winter would be a "good solution."
For their part, Els Guiamets also agree that the measure comes late, but they celebrate that it is put on the table. The president of the irrigation community of the Els Guiamets reservoir, Miquel Escoda, described the proposal as an "investment for the future" despite regretting that during its implementation there will be producers who "will not be able to survive until the project is a reality and they will stay along the way.
Currently, the reservoir is at 5% of its capacity and nearly 600 farmers have not been able to cope with this year's irrigation campaign.
The mayor of the municipality, Jordi Soldevila, added that during the impasse of the works, we will have to wait for it to rain, although he has valued the project positively not only for the peasantry, but for the set of economic sectors that can benefit from this initiative.
