The Government of the Canary Islands has enabled an extraordinary credit of 15 million euros to provide financial support to the three islands in water emergency, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Tenerife, and thus complement the budgetary effort made by their respective councils in the current fiscal year that is about to end.
The decision, adopted at the proposal of the Minister of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, Manuel Miranda, is based on the activation of the seventieth additional provision of the current Budget Law, which provided for this extraordinary possibility to respond to the difficulties generated by drought and water production deficit.
Councilor Manuel Miranda expressed his satisfaction “by fulfilling the commitment we made last year around this time in drafting the budget law of the autonomous community, and finally being able to increase the resources invested this year by another fifteen million more to alleviate to the extent of our possibilities the financial difficulties of those councils that are have been forced to declare a water emergency”.
These fifteen million euros will be allocated to a total of five projects on the aforementioned islands, through subsidies to the island administrations. Thus, the Lanzarote Water Consortium will receive 5 million for the renovation of frames in the Díaz Rijo desalination plant, which will allow you to continue increasing your production capacity.
The Tenerife Island Water Council will be the recipient of another 5 million, which will invest in the implementation of tertiary treatment in the Buenos Aires treatment plant, to improve the supply of regenerated water between Santa Cruz and the San Lorenzo Valley, in the south. of the Island. The Cabildo of Fuerteventura will allocate the 5 million that will be transferred by the regional executive to a new regulatory tank in La Lajita, and the improvement of the distribution network in Corralejo.
Manuel Miranda recalled that during 2024, resources from the General Directorate of Water’s own initial budget have been made available to cover different projects, totaling almost 9 million euros. Specifically, budget modifications have been made for supply improvements in the north of Gran Canaria (one million euros); the improvement of the Punta Brava outfall, in Tenerife (2.7 million); the supply of Puerto del Rosario, in Fuerteventura (2.6 million); the San Blas pumping station, in Candelaria, Tenerife (1.7 million); and three other modifications for supply in Valverde (El Hierro), sanitation in La Frontera (El Hierro) and cleaning of wells in La Graciosa, which total 900,000 euros.
At the same time, the budget has been increased by another 17 million euros. two million to increase water production in Lanzarote by 10% and these 15 million to activate the seventieth additional provision of the budgets of the autonomous community for the year 2024.
Manuel Miranda recalled that the island councils have quantified the projects to be proposed of general interest to the State at more than 1,400 million euros, which will form part of the negotiation of a future hydraulic works agreement. This agreement “It is essential to continue completing the integral water cycle in the Canary Islands“, Miranda concluded.