- The Secretary of State for the Rural and Aquatic Environment at the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs and the Councillor for Industry, Energy and the Environment of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha have examined the current situation of this wetland area following the emergency measures adopted by the Government of Spain.
- The recovery experienced by the Tablas de Daimiel National Park thanks to the water brought into the area has enabled the return of winter birds to these wetlands.
The Secretary of State for the Rural and Aquatic Environment at the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Mr Josep Puxeu, and the Councillor for Industry, Energy and the Environment of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha today visited the Tablas de Daimiel National Park and saw first hand the current situation of this wetland area, where water has returned to over 1,200 hectares.
As a consequence of the work undertaken to extinguish and compact the peat, to bring in water via the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct and the recent rainfall, the situation in Tablas de Daimiel has changed dramatically; at the end of last autumn, only 20 hectares of the surface was covered by water. This recovery has taken place at a particularly opportune moment for the ecosystem in the wetlands, where the positive effects are already being felt by the birdlife.
Furthermore, due to recently-implemented government measures, it is expected for the area with surface water once again to expand, meaning that peat combustion has been extinguished.
Faced with the difficult situation being experienced in Tablas de Daimiel, marked by constant drought over four years and aggravated by underground peat fires, the Council of Ministers adopted a series of emergency measures to bring water to the wetlands. To this end, the Government authorised the partial, temporary and exceptional use of the Llanura Manchega Pipeline to bring in water from the Tajo-Segura Aqueduct to La Cañada Lobosa, in the National Park. This measure, implemented on 4th January last, ensured an uninterrupted flow of some 900 litres per second into Tablas de Daimiel.
Furthermore, the Government also ordered a series of 14 new wells that, combined with the existing ones on land acquired by the Spanish Autonomous National Parks Organisation (OAPN), will provide approximately 1,500 litres per second to Tablas de Daimiel. This measure will remain in place for the future hydrological management of the National Park.
The recovery of Tablas de Daimiel, alongside the predicted continuity of water provided naturally via the River Gigüela (given the situation of the Ruidera Lakes and the water level being maintained at the Peñarroya reservoir), mean that the flow of water through the Llanura Manchega Pipeline can now be interrupted. In total, more than 2.1 cubic hectometres of water were provided through the pipeline and from existing wells.
Furthermore, the emergency measures have led the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs to develop an acquisition policy concerning rural land located close to the National Park, the purpose of which is to alleviate the pressure exerted on the water system of the Park and to help the ecosystem recover naturally.
Since 2004 and through the Spanish Autonomous National Parks Organisation (OAPN), the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs has invested 23.6 million euros in the purchase of 87 plots of land with a total surface area of 1,174 hectares and water rights of some 3,785,075.63 cubic metres per year.