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Four to five months: the Tagus-Segura closure is now official
The government has confirmed the repair timeline, but irrigators say the job could be done in weeks, not months
The Ministry for Ecological Transition has formally declared an emergency for repair works on the Tagus-Segura Aqueduct, putting an official stamp on a timeline that has alarmed farmers across the southeast. Two sections of the 292-kilometre waterway remain blocked, and the government says it will take between four and five months to fix them, at a maximum cost of €1.2 million. Work must begin within a month.The damage appeared on September 15 at two specific points: kilometre 4.7 of the Riansares canal in Almonacid de Zorita, Guadalajara, and kilometre 1.7 of the Talave canal in Liétor, Albacete. Draining the aqueduct for inspection revealed subsidence, destroyed concrete sections and cavities in the ground beneath, with torrential rain contributing to the deterioration. The declaration of emergency doesn’t change that timeline, but it does formally confirm it and unlock the procurement process for the work ahead.
Irrigators are far from satisfied. The Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Aqueduct (SCRATS) believes the repairs could be completed far sooner. General secretary José Ángel Pérez estimates around a month and a half would be sufficient, even pointing to November 15 as a realistic date for restoring flow. He puts the Liétor section at about three weeks’ work and Almonacid de Zorita at around six weeks, arguing that more intensive planning and sufficient resources could cut the official estimate considerably. What’s at stake is significant. SCRATS estimates between 70 and 75 cubic hectometres of irrigation water could be lost if the longer timeline holds.
There’s a political dimension to this too. Concerns have already been raised that the closure could quietly become permanent, given the wider political battles over the transfer’s future.
Castilla-La Mancha had been pushing for changes to the aqueduct’s operating rules, but spokesperson Esther Padilla confirmed this week that the snap election has made that impossible for now. “There isn’t enough time; the legislative session has ended, and Castilla-La Mancha will not have the modification of these operating rules,” she said, adding that the regional government will maintain its demands before whichever government emerges from the November 29 elections.
Regional president Fernando López Miras, meanwhile, framed the elections as “an opportunity for the water transfer, for the Region of Murcia, and for farmers,” contrasting the positions of the main parties on the aqueduct’s long-term future.
The Ministry has reiterated that the system is “a strategic infrastructure” serving 2.5 million people across 79 municipalities in Murcia, Alicante and Albacete. For the farmers waiting on the other end of it, that description rings rather hollow right now.
Image: wikicommons
