Spain faces worst drought in years - April 10, 2008
The rain in Spain falls mainly ... oh wait ... not anymore it doesn’t. Things aren’t looking good as the Iberian peninsula faces the worst drought in nearly half a century.
“Our farmers are looking skyward every day waiting for rain. The situation is severe and could deteriorate soon,” says Stephan Roetzer, chief executive of SanLucar Fruit company in Valencia (Wall Street Journal; subscription required).
Spain’s ruling party the PSOE says it’s not their fault; it’s climate change (Europa Press).
The WSJ says it’s the worst drought in 60 years. The Times says ‘over 40’, and adds that different regions are now fighting over water resources. The paper says Catalonia and Aragón are at loggerheads over the former’s plan to divert water from the River Segre to Barcelona.
Aragón is having less than none of that, which Catalonia thinks is because it needs all the water it can get for a “European Las Vegas” resort plan that involves golf courses in the super-dry region.
As an indication of how dire things are getting, last week it was reported that Catalonia will need to bring in water by ship and train if the drought persists (Reuters). El Pais details some of the tribulations water shortages are causing.
In an opinion piece El Pais suggests (via the Google translator):
The ‘truth will not be revealed by an expert committee - of the kind who decide whether an item may or may not be published in a prestigious scientific journal - but by an ‘enlarged community of experts, which also form part of the whole set of social actors with a legitimate interest in the problem. In other words, the level of acceptable risk, and how this is distributed among the population and territory, is a political issue, not scientific, and therefore the discussion and decisions should be able to occur on an equal footing among the expert scientists and concerned individuals and groups.
Image: Getty
Comments
Water problem in Spain is consequence of a bad management in all over the country in general, and especially in Mediterranean Coast; whit an irrational development.
On the other hand, I would like to say that Aragón doesn´t want water to build a "European Las Vegas", the problem is more complicated.
Thank you, and excuseme my english level.
Posted by: J. Martínez Aznar | April 13, 2008 10:16 PM
The water problems in many regions are the consequence of bad management all over the world in general. Climate change is causing desertification, and the sharp end of the wedge will be felt in populated areas where there is conflict between subsistence agriculture (wheat, rice, potato, soy) and luxury consumption (golf courses, corn for animal feed, et cetera).
Growing tropical grasses in temperate climates becomes less viable with each passing year. This is but one example of bad management, bad perhaps due to nothing more than ignorance and short sightedness but bad nonetheless.
Gracias por su opinion, su ingles es mejor que mi espanol!
Posted by: Brett Pike | April 15, 2008 11:09 PM