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article_detail
Date Published: 11/09/2020
ARCHIVED - Regional government will appeal against CHS measures to protect Cartagena aquifer
This also relates to the measures changing the way in which agricultural nitrates are used around the Mar Menor
The complicated topic of the recovery of the Mar Menor and exactly who has the competence for each of the many aspects of this complex topic continues this week with a report on Thursday that the regional Government has agreed to file a contentious-administrative appeal against the agreements adopted at the meeting of the Governing Board of the CHS, Segura Hydrographic Confederation, on July 16th regarding the contamination of the water aquifer beneath the Campo de Cartagena and the measures to be taken in order to protect it.
The precautionary measures approved by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation to protect the Mar Menor principally affect 1,190 hectares of irrigated land, located in a strip 1,500 meters deep, running in from the shoreline, the so-called 'Zone 0'.
The proposal also included a series of restrictions for the rest of the agricultural activity in the area of the Campo de Cartagena affecting the aquifer, some 1,190 hectares of land, which must reduce the nitrate load on the crops grown, which varies according to the crop. According to the CHS, 20 hectares are crops grown in plastic greenhousing, 967 are basic green crops and 203 are citrus plantations.
The declaration prohibited the application of any type of organic and inorganic fertilisers, permitted the continution of fertilization in existing woody crops for only six months and provided for measures to be implemented within a period of no more than three months.
The regional Government has since passed its own Mar Menor Protection Plan, which follows some of the same measures, but not all, and there has been disagreement between the two bodies over who has the jurisdiction to apply the regulations. The CHS had prepared an extensive report about the level of nitrate contamination in the natural aquifer water storage beneath the vast area covered by the Campo de Cartagena and after correctly publishing and making the repot available for public scrutiny for the specified time period, had called a meeting of the Governing Board of the CHS at short notice.
The Regional Government maintains that there was no time to study the report produced by the CHS because the documentation was submitted after the deadline (2 days before a meeting), considering it a “violation of an essential procedure” and therefore rendering the measure adopted null and void.
The main purpose of the July meeting of the Hydrographic Confederation was to declare the groundwater mass in Campo de Cartagena at risk from continued pollution by nitrates due to the ongoing intensive irrigated farming in the area, delimiting the perimeters of the affected areas and establishing precautionary measures for the area.
The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that this is just petty party politics, but the root of the problem lies in culpability. The EU has told the CHS in no uncertain terms that it must act to reduce nitrate pollution in not only the Cartagena aquifer, but also other areas of the country as well, as the levels of nitrates in these subterranean water bodies exceed European limits, so the CHS is keen to act and comply with the EU directive, otherwise it faces the risk of prosecution.
This is also tied in to the complicated question of accountability as both the CHS and the regional government are being held as partially culpable for the algal problems which are now plaguing the Mar Menor; a criminal investigation has already gathered substantial evidence to indicate that both bodies either turned a blind eye with the knowledge that irregularities were being committed or failed to fulfil their obligations to correctly monitor the agricultural and urban practices around the lagoon, in which case both are open to potential criminal prosecution.
Added to which is the ongoing disagreement between the regional and national governments over who will ultimately pay for the corrective measures which must now be undertaken urgently, the regional government unhappy that the CHS “pipped them at the post” by itself passing legislation which was complementary to, but not the same as, the legislation passed by the regional government, just days later.
Complicated?
Absolutely.
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