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ARCHIVED - More support for proposals to drain the Cartagena aquifer in order to protect the Mar Menor
The Fundación Ingenio outlines ways in which agriculture can become part of the solution to the problems in the lagoon
The issue of the marine environment in the Mar Menor continues to cause great concern after its progressive deterioration over recent decades, culminating in the water turning a greenish colour in 2016 and then the episode of anoxia which killed millions of fish and crustaceans in 2019, and this week the Fundación Ingenio sustainable agriculture organization has added its voice to those advocating the extraction of water from the aquifer below the Campo de Cartagena as a means of reducing the excessive nitrate content of the lagoon.
Last week, José Luis García Aróstegui of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain suggested pumping water out of the massive aquifer and then removing the nitrates it contains as the most effective way of “de-contaminating” the Mar Menor and preventing more harmful substances from making their way into the water from the crop fields of the Campo de Cartagena, where the extensive use of fertilizers is held largely responsible for the alteration of water quality in the lagoon. At the same time, though Sr García Aróstegui admitted that the quantity of nitrates already in the Mar Menor is such that it would take some time for the effects on the marine environment to become noticeable in terms of a reduction in nitrate content.
On the face of it, the comments made this week by Natalia Corbalán, the managing director of Fundación Ingenio, appear to follow very similar lines. Sra Corbalán is of the opinion that the “more efficient management” of the aquifer is one of the possible solutions to the situation in the Mar Menor, and proposes reducing the amount of water held in it and treating or “cleaning” the extracted water at a series of desalination plants.
In order to do so it would be necessary to create a series of boreholes around the aquifer to remove water with high nitrate content, regulating the use of the aquifer and both activating and enlarging the water treatment plant of El Mojón, so that “clean” water can be fed back into the lagoon.
The Fundación Ingenio includes this management of the aquifer as one of the three central pillars of its proposals to protect the Mar Menor, the others being to avoid surface water runoff into the lagoon (particularly in times of heavy rain) and to promote sustainable and responsible agricultural practices. Outlining these proposals, Natalia Corbalán states that members of the foundation find it difficult to understand that such measures have not already been in place for decades.
The specific proposals outlined by the organization include a full review of existing water collection and treatment infrastructures, the creation of a water treatment pool next to the existing plant in San Javier and improvements to drainage and sewage network in coastal towns, as well as the construction of 15 wooden bio-reactors to treat water in the DT canal and the Rambla del Albujón.
Most importantly for the future, Sra Corbalán maintains that, by implementing sustainable techniques and practices, agriculture, rather than being one of the causes of the degradation of the Mar Menor, can become the most important part of the solution.