The president of the Alicante Provincial Council, Toni Pérez, met this morning with mayors of municipalities in La Marina Alta affected by water restrictions to seek solutions that improve the supply of the region.
This meeting, called last week and which was also attended by the first vice president and representative of the Water Cycle, Ana Serna, was attended by the mayors of Benissa, Arturo Poquet; Teulada-Moraira, Raúl Llobel; and El Poble Nou de Benitatxell, Miguel Ángel García, as well as the mayor of Xàbia, Rosa Cardona, a municipality whose water cycle management has been set as an example for dealing with difficult times with guarantees. The provincial president has committed to "studying measures that will allow us to deal with the water situation affecting the area in the future to guarantee the supply of quality drinking water to the citizens."
Toni Pérez recalled that in recent weeks emergency measures have been taken to save the situation and some of the affected towns have provided water supply to residents through tanker trucks or by distributing jugs. The president has pointed out that the situation worsens at this time of year, since the population and activity in the area increase consumption. Precisely, in some inland towns it has already been prohibited to clean vehicles, water gardens or fill swimming pools with drinking water.
For months, some of the municipalities that are near the sea have been suffering from the salinization of aquifers that are increasingly affected and last March the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation declared a state of emergency in the region due to water scarcity.
The provincial institution will continue to defend the water interests of the municipalities of the province of Alicante with deficiencies in drinking water supplies mainly due to infrastructure and guaranteeing support for the local agricultural sector. "We must seek alliances to reverse the situation and improve the situation for next summer," said Toni Pérez, who added that "we are going to work together on a plan to address infrastructure and have specific measures for the localities that need it" emphasizing that "in situations like this, good hydrological planning is necessary, evaluating resources and demands and trying to find solutions."
Finally, Pérez has highlighted the commitment of the provincial institution in relation to external contributions "which must also be guaranteed so we will continue to defend the environmental, economic and social interests of our province to the last consequences."
