anyone's garden struggling with drought?!

[gavilan]

and it's not just Malaga province where drought/over-consumption is an issue

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news ... -the-face/

[El Cid]

been an interesting afternoon here ... dont know how fire started ... or where helicopters were managing to find water from ...

https://www.axarquiaplus.es/declarado-u ... -alcaucin/

Private pools if necessary.

Sid

[gavilan]

Sid: do you have any comments on the following? ...?is this area near where you live?

https://www.surinenglish.com/andalucia/ ... 32-nt.html

[El Cid]

Yes, its absolute sacrilege. That is one of the few pine forests on this coast and they have "allegedly" been given permission to dig it up. The only consolation is that they are not building an urbanisation on it like they did on the rest od Cerro Gordo. We get the same view of it as the photo from our house.

There are terraces being dug all over the area but not quite as bad as in the Axarquia. The water situation here is OK as it all comes from underground aquifers rather than reservoirs but they are getting low and that runs the risk of salination.

The local farmers are up in arms about the fact that the huge Rules dam was built with no distribution pipes! There is loads of water in it, more than enough for the whole of the Costa Tropical. Im guessing that the farmers planting the new areas are assuming that it will soon get fixed.

Sid

[olive]

I rest my case. Farming is king and trumps everthing

[gavilan]

dont think farming itself is the problem ... more the motive that drives it ie greed ... the problem is how to change attitudes? ... there are examples of different approach to farming around the world ... here one example
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... gy-farmers

[olive]

I believe around 90% of water used in Spain is by farmers.

If you can nearly double your yield of olives as an example why wouldn’t you irrigate. Farming in a manner that reduces water consumption requires more than just “ doing the right thing” when it hits the farmers pocket.

[gavilan]

it's going to hit the farmers pocket when the drought kills the trees! ... then they will demand compensation!

[Lavanda]

I keep getting petitions in my 'inbox' to sign against a ruling made by the Junta de Andalucia to allow the Parque Doñana to be drained of water. Does anyone have any ideas what this is all about as I am sure it cannot be right.

[olive]

Probably this

https://www.surinenglish.com/andalucia/ ... 13-nt.html

[Lavanda]

Yes. That's it. Your Junta seems to be living in a parallel universe.

[IreneD]

Insanity! Such a beautiful and ecologically important place

https://www.spain.info/en/nature/donana-national-park/

[gavilan]

we had some rain yesterday morning ... first proper rain for 15 months ... stream bubbling happily ... but it also brought a lot of Sahara dust within it ... car is covered in it!!! ... and more forecast for tomorrow!

[Free at Last]

People are going to be using up all the water level increases in the reservoirs over the last couple of days just to wash off all the horrible red dust now coating everything. We've never seen a calima this bad in the 16 years we've been here, and have seen comments from people who have been here 30 years and more saying it is the worst they've known as well.

https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/meteo ... 302_0.html

[olive]

There are some brilliant memes circulating on social media. One I liked is people skiing at Sierra Nevada on dust covered snow. Agree it is the worst calima I have known too.

[fyfin]

It's very bad here in Turre, Almeria but as regards watering, we never have to water any plants in the ground, only those in pots. I don't understand it as we're on a hill but I have been told there was a spring where the houses were built, hence the name of the urbanisation "Agua Nueva"

[gavilan]

has rained a lot here last night/this morning ... stream enjoying much increased volume ... ?but does it mean famers will get the ok to plant even more avocados/mangos?! ... on the other hand, maybe heavy rain has washed topsoil away from newly planted trees on those ridiculous steep previously dry hillsides?!

[gavilan]

I thought it was sand but on close inspection it's more like fine granules of clay ... I need a pressure washer to get it off walls and paths ...?anyone know if that hosepipe ban is still in force?!

[Wicksey]

The Spanish weather said it was an 'historic' calima. It certainly is like sticky clay and even after washing and brushing down the terrace, it refuses to budge. I washed the conservatory windows and doors, not something I usually do that much, but I was hurrying to get it off before it set solid. I'm pretty sure that any rain we received will soon be used up by everyone cleaning up and refilling pools. A house up the hill from us emptied its entire pool onto the track, just to add the mud already there.

[gavilan]

Wicksey wrote: I'm pretty sure that any rain we received will soon be used up by everyone cleaning up and refilling pools. ... that thought had occurred to me too!!!